The Healer’s Art Course was highlighted this summer (July 14, 2017) at the National Academy of Medicine Action Collaborative on Clinician Well-Being and Resilience.

Here is a summary from Mike Rabow, MD, Director of The Center for the Study of the Healer’s Art on the meeting:

 July 14, 2017 in Washington, DC, the National Academy of Medicine hosted their first meeting of the Action Collaborative on Clinician Well-being and Resilience.  This meeting, entitled “Establishing Clinician Well-Being as a National Priority” was the launch of the National Academy of Medicine’s next big push:  to address the epidemic of burnout and re-focus health care clinicians on resiliency and safety.   The co-sponsors of this collaborative include the AAMC and the ACGME, among many other national groups.  Approximately 200 were in attendance at the conference and many other on the live webcast.  After a morning of discussing models of well-being and national data about the harms of clinician burnout, the close of the conference was dedicated to highlighting “Promising approaches to reducing burnout and improving well-being.”  Three programs were featured, focused on medical education, individual interventions, or organizational models.

Dr. Remen was honored with an invitation to present the Healer’s Art and the work of RISHI at Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine as a leading national example of a promising approach in medical education.  Although Dr. Remen was unable to attend, Dr. Michael Rabow, Director of the Center for the Study of the Healer’s Art, was able to attend and present highlights of the Healer’s Art and a brief compendium of outcome research on the course.  Dr. Rabow focused on the finding that medical education involves professional “deformation” as well as professional “formation,” as well as the findings that students can be strengthened to live their own dream of service in the context of a safe community of learners.  He cautioned those policy-makers and educators assembled to be cautious around the issues of learning readiness and the hidden curriculum.  To be at the center of such a national movement, and an example of what good is possible in clinician education, is a true privilege for RISHI.