When I am in the hospital, there is at least a semblance of humanity. In a room with a patient, there is the possibility of the unexpected. Alone with my computer, there is only the ruthless pursuit of the correct, and the colorful pie chart of my inadequacy.

Anna Dovre reflects on how studying for medical board exams feels like a process of denaturing.

The essay read in this episode was published in the Teaching and Learning Moments column in the November 2025 issue of Academic Medicine. Read the essay at academicmedicine.org.

As I brought the blade to the patient, I tried to infer the right depth, weight, and speed by matching to my pictured recollection of all the other incisions I had seen—an act, perhaps, akin to Ansel Adams's technique of photographic previsualization.

Benjamin A. Freeman reflects on how studying photography can be beneficial to medical education.

The essay read in this episode was published in the Teaching and Learning Moments column in the November 2025 issue of Academic Medicine. Read the essay at academicmedicine.org.

My hope is that, by learning to recognize how physicians interface with injustice in systems early in their training, learners will be better prepared to navigate and, when necessary, defy these systems throughout their careers.

Juliana E. Morris reflects on the importance of talking openly with students and involving them in decision-making while volunteering at a medical student-run asylum clinic.

The essay read in this episode was published in the Teaching and Learning Moments column in the October 2025 issue of Academic Medicine. Read the essay at academicmedicine.org.

In the years since this experience ... I have sought to encourage trainees and students to reorient their focus from patient outcomes as a referendum on their competency and to focus instead on the process-based thinking preceding them and to try to make space for the mystery between.

Benjamin W. Frush reflects on the perils of an outcome-focused culture in medicine.

The essay read in this episode was published in the Teaching and Learning Moments column in the October 2025 issue of Academic Medicine. Read the essay at academicmedicine.org.

Discussing a new study into how medical student parents navigate their dual identities as physicians-in-training and parents are author Emily Carroll, MD, MEHP, Research in Medical Education Committee member Gary Beck Dallaghan, PhD, and AAMC MedEdSCHOLAR Kiani Gardner, PhD. They also explore how medical schools can foster an inclusive learning environment for these learners.

Read the article discussed and access the episode transcript at academicmedicineblog.org.

I never saw Andrew after that night, but I think of him often. I hope that our interaction played a small part in getting him the care he needed.

Sujal Manohar reflects on the importance of digging deeper into a patient's social history by expanding past the typical questions.

The essay read in this episode was published in the Teaching and Learning Moments column in the September 2025 issue of Academic Medicine. Read the essay at academicmedicine.org.

Discussing a new study that explores medical student learning during interprofessional interactions in clinical clerkships are author Kelsey Miller, MD, EdM, Research in Medical Education (RIME) Committee member Bonny Dickinson, PhD, MS-HPEd, and AAMC MedEdSCHOLAR Kelvin Pollard, MD. They explore the "lore" about working with other health professionals that medical students learn from their peers during clerkships and how interprofessional interactions shape students' professional identity, autonomy and collaboration skills, and sense of their role on the health care team.

Read the article discussed and access the episode transcript at academicmedicineblog.org.

For the first time, we began to understand not just their bodies and illnesses but their lives as joyful parents, enthusiastic musicians, expert race car mechanics, and loving spouses.

David Deshpande reflects on the Service of Gratitude and the lessons learned from anatomy donors and their families.

The essay read in this episode was published in the Teaching and Learning Moments column in the September 2025 issue of Academic Medicine. Read the essay at academicmedicine.org.

We are taught to think about what needs to be done in order for our patient to go home when we are on the wards, yet there is no care meeting, discharge coordinator, or bed huddle in academic medicine.

Julia Meade reflects on the difficulty of knowing when to retire from academic medicine.

The essay read in this episode was published in the Teaching and Learning Moments column in the August 2025 issue of Academic Medicine. Read the essay at academicmedicine.org.

Throughout my medical training, I vow to make an effort to actively pursue each patient's full story. To cleave only the fragments of their existence that anchor them to the hospital room leaves behind parts of our patients, invisible and abandoned.

Madeline Blatt reflects on the importance of imagining and investigating the version of the patient who lives outside of the hospital after being discharged.

The essay read in this episode was published in the Teaching and Learning Moments column in the July 2025 issue of Academic Medicine. Read the essay at academicmedicine.org.

Regardless of how difficult medicine is, each small step we take to listen, be compassionate, have patience, and advocate is meaningful, even if we must start over and do it again tomorrow, and the next day, and the day after that.

Lisa Gong reflects on a patient who helped her to see the value in normalcy and routine.

The essay read in this episode was published in the Teaching and Learning Moments column in the July 2025 issue of Academic Medicine. Read the essay at academicmedicine.org.