As a former high school teacher and professional violinist, I’ve always had stories to tell. I’ve always had a lot of “cred” as a clinician educator, and when I speak about teaching, people usually listen because I have an off-the-beaten-track perspective. However, when it came to developing an academic focus and then asking for money to support that focus, my background seemed distant and my ideas lacked clarity. I tried my hand at writing a grant proposal, but it was rejected multiple times. Enter Harvard Macy.

On face-value, the Humanities and healthcare education are at opposite poles.  The Humanities give voice to human beings’ imagination and emotions, and in turn give us space for for self-reflection and self-care. In contrast, healthcare education classically values cognitive and psychomotor learning. In spite of this opposition, as is often the case, opposites do attract.

This time last year I was sitting in a classroom at the school of education, learning about metacognition, reflection, and deep understanding.  It had only been 18 short years since I graduated high school and I couldn’t help but wonder - How did I get here?  I had finished my ear, nose, and throat (ENT) surgical training and quickly went from learning about resecting cancer and performing airway reconstruction to learning about teaching for understanding. 

For anyone who has ever written multiple choice questions, or taken a multiple choice exam (which includes basically everyone on the planet who can read), the limitations of this type of test are pretty obvious. In fact, if you look into the history of the multiple choice question (MCQ) format, it is interesting to learn that it was never meant to become our only standardized test method. It was invented to test potential military recruits for intelligence, but was later discarded when it was found not to be reliable. The uses we now put MCQ tests to are staggering.