6 Sharing your passion and enthusiasm with trainees

By: Dr. Christopher C. Frank

Quite a few years back, when I was just beginning to be given some educational leadership roles, I was introduced to the work of Benjamin Zander, who is a conductor cum leadership guru. I love music and I love teaching and so I learned quite a bit from his film and book, The Art of Possibility. There were a lot of things in his work that I found helpful in developing my own educational style and approach.  One of the lessons I adopted was, “Don’t take yourself too seriously”, which allowed me to respond in positive ways to stressful situations and to role model use of humour and self-deprecation as a style in clinical encounters. Another valuable lesson was “Give them an A”. In the world of classical music, as in medicine, fear of failure and fear of poor performance can stunt growth and hinder performance. Stressing the personal development focus of clinical education rather than the grade/mark does seem to bring out the best in stressed “performers” in medicine too.

One of the big lessons I discovered, is that you know you are doing the right things in your work when your learners have “shining eyes”, suggesting enthusiasm for the work they are doing and pride in the things they are learning. For several iterations of my applications for re-appointment and promotion, I stressed my enthusiasm and passion for working with older people, much more than my pedagogical knowledge or brilliance. Although I have learned a lot more about principles and theories of education, I still believe that my enthusiasm for my work with my distinct patient populations, is more important in engaging learners. It is also seems to help them seek out the joys for working with frail seniors or dying people and the joys found in  our work, in ways that they might not have thought of in other encounters. “Shining eyes” are the opposite of burnout, and helping learners to kindle their own enthusiasm(s) will help ward it off.

There is nothing as wonderful as receiving a card or email from a former student saying they remembered their rotation in geriatric medicine and enjoyed working with older people, and that it has influenced their work even years later. Here is a TED talk about the transformative power of music; hopefully we can help transform clinical education with our own passion and shining eyes.  Shining Eyes | leadership as a practice (jonathansachs.net)

Photo by Josh Boot on Unsplash