On becoming a better educator

Readers are slowly learning about my admiration for the Farnam Street Blog.  The “about” page describes the blog in this way: My goal is to help you go to bed each night smarter than when you woke up. I’ll do this by giving you tools, ideas, and frameworks for thinking. I’m not smart enough to figure all of this out myself. I try to master the best of what other people have already figured out. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? The best way to do this is to read a lot. And so I make friends with the eminent dead. Along the way I write about what I’m learning. I’d encourage you to look around and decide for yourself if this is something that interests you. Last week he reviewed The Laws of Simplicity by John Maeda.  I read the book, and loved the approach to knowledge.  As an educator, he has evolved to a BRAINy approach: BASICS are the beginning. REPEAT yourself often. AVOID creating desperation. INSPIRE with examples. NEVER forget to repeat yourself. I love this conceptualization.  These lines seem counterintuitive to newly minted educators, but over time many evolve to understanding the wisdom in these lines. As I work with medical students, interns and residents, these words accurately describe my evolution as an educator.  We should never assume that our learners really understand the basics.  Unfortunately (in my opinion) the first two years of medical school which should emphasize the basics, quickly get too complicated.  We have not defined the b...
Source: DB's Medical Rants - Category: Internal Medicine Authors: Tags: Medical Rants Source Type: blogs