Patient-centered care, student-centered learning
Dr. Listy Thomas
In emergency rooms and urgent care centers, physicians must draw upon an array of expertise. Beyond physical exam skills, they must employ patient-centered communication skills to arrive at an accurate diagnosis. This is something that Professor Listy Thomas, an emergency physician and Assistant Director of the Clinical Arts and Sciences course, knows very well, and it's something she instills in all of her students.
“We’ve been moving away from the physician-centric interview for a little while now, but in practice, it’s still something people fall back on,” Thomas said. “That’s something we address in my course.”
The course teaches a mix of hard clinical and interpersonal skills and emphasizes small group learning in a hands-on environment, matching about 8 students with a single faculty member. “We do a lot of faculty development to make sure that preceptors and students are on the same page,” Thomas said.
When she isn’t expanding the toolsets of future physicians, Professor Thomas dons the role of academic career adviser, working closely with third- and fourth-year med students to match them to the right specialty during and after residency. “It’s a year-long process of growth,” Thomas explained. “It takes a lot of mentoring.”
This process consists of more than just skills assessments and one-on-one meetings. Thomas and other faculty review students’ personality tests, gauge their career outlooks and personal goals, review their strengths and their actual performance during their clinical rotations.
“Students come to us younger and younger now, and they come in with aspirations,” Thomas said. “We try to match those expectations and ideals with reality to find what and where they will be most successful and happy.”
