Surgeons as Educators A Guide for Academic Development and Teaching Excellence

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written work to make up for her inability to participate verbally in class. That con-
versation made me reflect on what I require in the classroom. I realized that it was
unfair to require her (or anyone in a similar situation) to make up for being a slower
processor by having to do extra work—even by choice. People who are able to
acquire and process information faster would not have to do this extra work. This
became a serious problem for me, since class participation is very important in my
case-based sessions.
I thought about how I teach most sessions. Before class, I instruct students to
read, study, and prepare the cases and readings. After most in-class discussions, I
ask my students to take 10 min to write down their insights, and I ask them “would
anyone like to share their insights?” I generally open the next session with a recap
of what we discussed and an opportunity for people to share any additional thoughts.
I reflected on what I was doing and asked myself several questions: Do I give
everyone enough time to think and offer a response in class? How much time would
slower processors need to respond? Are there better ways to obtain inclusion?
Should I offer more group work so people can share ideas? I learned from this stu-
dent that I have to adapt my teaching style to the wide range of learners in class.
Reflecting on these and other questions is what I love about being a professor.
We are continually learning how to connect with every student. We cannot fixate on
one style or pedagogy. The teaching challenge requires that we get out of our com-
fort zones to accommodate our students’ needs. We should use blended learning
models, with classroom and e-learning, synchronous and asynchronous methods,
flipped classrooms, and other innovations in an ever evolving effort to connect with
students and enhance the learning process.

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20 Teaching Surgeons How to Lead