Columns

Caleb Sokolowski (21 Posts)

Writer-in-Training and Columnist

Wayne State University School of Medicine

Caleb Sokolowski is a second-year medical student at Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit, Michigan. In 2018, he graduated from Michigan State University with a Bachelor of science in Human Biology. Caleb is interested in medical ethics, policy, and education. In his free time, Caleb participates in number of activities including sports, CrossFit, paddle boarding and cycling.

Leading the Rounds: The Medical Leadership Podcast

 As physicians, we are immediately thrust into a leadership position from the moment we finish medical school. Despite this, most medical students will obtain little formal leadership training. We seek to improve our leadership abilities as burgeoning physicians. We developed this podcast to challenge ourselves to explore ideas in leadership development and how they apply to medical training. We hope to educate and motivate others to further develop themselves as leaders in healthcare.




Leading the Rounds: The Medical Leadership Podcast — “Why Gender Doesn’t Belong in Leadership Conversations with From Skirts to Scrubs and Dr. Stephanie Faubion”

Published by Caleb Sokolowski

In this episode we combine with another podcast, From Skirts to Scrubs, to interview Dr. Stephanie Faubion. She has practiced in the Women’s Health Clinic at Mayo Clinic for over 10 years. She has a broad interest in women’s health and her research encompasses sex- and gender-based differences in disease, menopause, hormone therapy, healthy aging and sexual health and dysfunction in women.

Tissue Paper Skin

Published by Coco Thomas

I believe these inadequate approaches circumvent the answer the interviewer is actually trying to provoke: are you self-aware enough to know your faults?

Every one of us is imperfect, fallible, and vulnerable to making mistakes. Being a strong physician requires self-reflection and awareness, and interviewers want to know if you are willing to be honest with yourself and others. I can’t tell you how to answer this question, but I can tell you how I did.

Course Correction: Growing Distrust in Physicians and Looking Ahead

Published by Faiz Saulat

As we seek to understand this phenomenon, there are many subjective variables that contribute to the trust between patients and providers. Measuring trust in a reliable and consistent fashion is challenging in itself. With these limitations in mind, three salient factors are involved in the decline of patient trust in physicians: one, a commodified health care system; two, lack of quality time spent with the patient; and three, racial influences on the patient-provider relationship.

Leading the Rounds: The Medical Leadership Podcast — “Death, Humor and Bringing Humanism Back to Medicine with Dr. Ed Creagan”

Published by Caleb Sokolowski

Dr. Creagan was the Mayo Clinic president 1999 to 2001. He was responsible to the Mayo Clinic CEO who directed answered to the internal board of governors and the external trustees. He believes that this gave him a fascinating insight into what he called the “Masters Of The Universe.”

Leading the Rounds: The Medical Leadership Podcast — “Esprit De Corps and the Importance of Curiosity with Dr. Stephen J. Swensen”

Published by Caleb Sokolowski

In this interview, we talk to Dr. Stephen J. Swensen. He is dedicated to the support of thoughtful leaders who aspire to nurture fulfillment of their staff. He is a recognized expert, researcher and speaker in the disciplines of leadership and burnout.

Lived experience

Becoming More Emotionally Intelligent, Adaptive Physician-Leaders

Published by Ashten Duncan, MPH, CPH

Current evidence suggests that much of human health is influenced more significantly by contextual factors like the social determinants of health than the direct receipt of health care. This relatively new understanding has challenged the notion of “physicianhood” and what it means to improve the health of entire populations and communities. With the influx of issues that the pandemic has brought with it, this new model for being a highly effective physician has become even more important.

Leading the Rounds: The Medical Leadership Podcast — “Dr. Alison Van Dyke on Human Leadership and Mental Health”

Published by Caleb Sokolowski

In this episode we interview Dr. Alison Van Dyke. Dr Van Dyke joined the Data Quality, Analysis, and Interpretation Branch of the Surveillance Research Program (SRP) as Director of the SEER-linked Virtual Tissue Repository (VTR) Pilot Studies. For the VTR Pilot Studies, SRP works with SEER registries to obtain custom annotations of detailed treatment data for pancreas and female breast cancer cases which may have biospecimens available.

Rachelle Rodriguez’s Path to Medical School

Published by Coco Thomas

Rachelle’s winding journey to medical school is filled with twists and turns, with each fork in the road driving her in a novel direction. At age 20, she worked as a waitress, giving her the opportunity to travel and live in new places along the west coast and abroad. Each city brought a sense of excitement and adventure; each adventure brought her closer to finding her true calling. 

Coco Thomas Coco Thomas (10 Posts)

Columnist and Medical Student Editor

Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine

Coco Thomas is a medical student at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine in Philadelphia, PA, class of 2024. In 2016 she graduated from The University of Scranton with a Bachelor of Science in nursing. In her free time she enjoys traveling, going to the beach and hanging out with her dog, Zoey.

Switching Stethoscopes

After working in the Emergency Room as a registered nurse for three years, Coco made the transition into medical school at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. The column Switching Stethoscopes describes a medical student's journey from nurse to doctor, while reflecting on the "non-traditional" path some students take to become a physician.