Supporting Students Throughout Their Medical School Journey: Q&A with Dr. Andrew Brown
This summer, our longitudinal clinical educators (LCEs) share their experiences mentoring the next generation of physicians at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.
Longitudinal clinical educators (LCEs) are faculty members that mentor University of Miami Miller School of Medicine students throughout their matriculation.
A crucial component of the Miller School’s NextGenMD curriculum, LCEs meet weekly with first-year students for at least two hours and every six weeks with second-year students for a few hours. During the students’ third and fourth years, LCEs use one-on-one meetings to prepare students for their residencies.
This spring and summer, we are featuring several of our LCEs as they discuss their experience in medical education. To kick off the series, we’re speaking with LCE Andrew Brown, M.D., assistant professor of clinical neurology and chief in the Division of General Neurology at the Miller School.
Talk about your experience as an LCE.
I became an LCE because I truly enjoy working with medical students early in their careers. This experience allows me to help guide them on their academic journey. Most recently, I saw my first LCE class match into residency and even attended their graduation, where I saw them graduate and conclude our four years together.
Why is an LCE important to medical students?
LCEs help students when things are going well. However, it is very important for the students to have someone to turn to when things aren’t going so well. This allows us to support the students when they need it most.
What do you want your students to take away from their LCE sessions?
We cover various topics, such as clinical skills and how to conduct a history and physical examination, and this is very important. However, more importantly, we start the students on their journey into clinical reasoning. We couple clinical reasoning with listening skills and an exploration of empathy. This allows the LCE to place the students on a path to become excellent clinicians.
It’s hard for me to pinpoint just one moment, as many interactions with the students are very positive. I can proudly say all my moments with them have been my favorite experiences as an LCE.
Tags: Dr. Andrew Brown, longitudinal clinician educators, mentoring