Foundations of Physician Responsibility – Self
Welcome to Learning Communities
FPR: Self Development is also known as Learning Communities. The Learning Communities provide a nurturing environment for you to develop your unique personal professional identity, helping you build an appropriate image of the medical profession and skill set related to functioning within the healthcare environment.
What is a Learning Community?
Learning Communities are “intentionally developed longitudinal groups that aim to enhance students’ medical school experience and to maximize learning (Shochet et al, 2019).” At Vanderbilt, each Learning Community consists of student peers and College Mentors who engage together in small group learning over the course of your medical school career. The Learning Communities foster communication between faculty and students, encourage active participation in learning activities, and promote the development of a trusting and caring environment. Through facilitated group discussion, peer-teaching, and exposure to content experts, you will foster professional identify formation and personal growth, equipping you to care for patients and team members within the greater healthcare system.
What are the goals of Self/Learning Communities?
The Learning Communities were designed to develop the professional skills and personal attributes necessary to deliver ethical, empathetic, well-reasoned healthcare to the populations we serve. To accomplish this, we focus on the following six goals:
How are Learning Communities designed?
Learning Communities follows a flipped-classroom format and utilizes content experts from the variety of fields being covered in the course. The eight current College Mentors facilitate small-group discussion and reflection around the topics addressing personal areas of growth such as metacognition and clinical reasoning, ethics, health equity, service, and leadership. The academic sessions are developmentally appropriate as you mature through the curriculum, and effectively integrated with other courses.
FPR Co-Course Director, Self
Beth Ann Yakes, MD
Associate Professor of Medicine
Administration
Cori Covington
Associate Program Coordinator
VUSM Longitudinal Elements Team
To learn more about FPR: Self/Learning Communities, please email us at LC@vanderbilt.edu.