Top-ranked professors share tricks of the trade
Classroom Charisma

When Mark Braun, MD '75, MS '97, went back to graduate school mid-career, he closely observed the teaching methods of his professors. As one of the students sitting in a hard seat, listening to the occasional dull lecture and checking the clock, Dr. Braun took lots of mental notes. These observations had a profound effect on his own teaching when he returned to the classroom to instruct medical students.

"With topics like pathology, pharmacology and microbiology, you have to work extra hard to make it interesting," notes Dr. Braun, a pathologist and faculty member at IUSM's Medical Sciences Program in Bloomington. He believes a good teacher has to be part salesman, part showman. He cites the character Professor Harold Hill from The Music Man as a good example. "Professor Hill sold everyone in River City on the idea that they needed a band," says Dr. Braun with a chuckle, "and he was quite entertaining in the process."

But Dr. Braun also is very deliberate in his method of presentation, carefully choosing to present just the right amount of information, use humor or even let students take a break, as the situation demands. He also adapts his style of questioning and the way he elicits participation to the specific class. "Students want to know why the information is important to them," he notes. "So I sell them on the subject. Eventually my enthusiasm rubs off on them and they begin to engage in self-learning."

Self-learning is a concept that is important to the success of a medical student. As Brett Zimmerman, PhD '86, says, "Most learning goes on outside the classroom. I present the basics and keep it simple." He and other professors expect students to take the information covered in class and use it as a building block for expanding their knowledge.

Dr. Zimmerman, who teaches pharmacology at IUSM's Muncie Center for Medical Education, also tries to put himself in the mindset of a medical student. "When I first started teaching I asked my students for feedback about how to make the lectures better," he remembers. His attention to their feedback has apparently paid off. Now, his students comment that the notes he provides in class are so useful that they are a "keeper" for when students begin clinical rotations.

The Relationship
What defines a "good" teacher? Perhaps it is someone who presents information in a straightforward, simple manner, relates well to students, or can teach both the brightest and slowest students in the same class.

For Taihung "Peter" Duong, PhD, an anatomy professor at IUSM's Terre Haute Center for Medical Education, all of the above are factors. Dr. Duong, who was a photographer before turning science professor, is a favorite among students.

"I can't just deliver a lecture, walk out of the room and be done with it," says Dr. Duong. "I have to be involved with the students and establish rapport. They have to feel comfortable to ask questions and know that there are no dumb questions."

Gross anatomy lab is an easy place to establish rapport, according to Dr. Duong. Human dissection is an unnatural and often overwhelming task for first-year medical students. So he, too, starts with the basics. "I may start the first lab with a question like 'Where's the arm?'" says Dr. Duong. "It seems too obvious, but it creates the right environment. Students see that we're going to start simple and build with complexity as we progress. It let's them know that I'm here to teach every student, no matter how much or how little each knows."

The Style
Perhaps having bright, eager students does make a difference. But Betsy Lindenman Mencias, MD '98, reflecting on her four years of medical school, believes that the style of teaching makes all the difference in the world to a student's success and interest. "The professor who stands out in my mind had a very unique approach," says Dr. Mencias. "He treated us as equals and encouraged us to participate in a very interactive way. He worked at making class enjoyable and valuable for us. I learned a lot in his class and appreciated his enthusiasm and concern for students."

The Passion
Dr. Braun acknowledges that students are most impressed with professors who engage their students. "We expect a lot from our students, but they expect a lot from us, too, and rightfully so," says Dr. Braun, who left private practice five years ago to teach full time. "They are given vast amounts of information. My job is to lead them through the experience. My office door is always open, and I give students my home phone number."

Giving out a home phone number might be considered extreme by some. For Drs. Braun, Zimmerman and Duong, it's just part of the job.