Nearly everyone remembers that one teacher. The one who made the complicated seem easy. Or the one who opened you up to a new area of study – the field that became your career. Perhaps this teacher uttered a deceptively simple phrase you’ve remembered ever since. That kind of teacher seems rare; rare, that is, until you walk the halls of KU Medical Center. Almost every student is eager to shine a spotlight on a favorite professor or instructor who has touched a nerve, ignited an interest in a subject area, or simply paved the way for future success.
These outstanding teachers can have different areas of expertise and diverse teaching styles. Some trumpet the magnitude of hard work in the classroom. Others let their research or field experience serve as the guiding framework for their students. Regardless of their varying approaches to education, the most acclaimed professors exhibit some common traits: receptiveness, approachability, and the quest for brilliance.
“The best professors are those who demand excellence, but who also make themselves available to help students reach excellence,”
Thomas Pazdernik, PhD, said. “The goal is to have every student work at the highest level they can.”
Pazdernik, who teaches courses in pharmacology and toxicology, said a critical trait for professors to demonstrate is an obvious passion for his or her subject matter. Ambivalence toward a course from an instructor will translate into uncertainty – or worse, indifference – from a student.
Students and professors alike stress the importance of connection, of establishing that intangible bond between the teacher and
the pupil that will eventually result in the complete retention of knowledge. Constructing that connection requires a bridge
between theory and practice, as well as a sufficient demonstration of the applicability of the abstract.
“The best professors are the ones who tell you exactly what you need to know, the kind of essential information that will help
us when we become nurses working out on the floor,” nursing student Erika Dunbar said. “That’s why those who have worked in the field usually turn out to be the best teachers.”
Jeff Searl, PhD, an associate professor of speech and hearing with KU’s School of Allied Health, echoed the importance of practical
and extra-educational application. “Work informs your teaching, and this allows you to address things that don’t pop up in class. It
means that rather than merely citing endless case studies, you can give your students real-life examples of what you’re trying to get
across to them, and that kind of teaching is critical.”
Although most of the outstanding teachers at KUMC acknowledge the satisfaction they get from being researchers and practicing
medical professionals, they say they would feel unfulfilled if they didn’t have the opportunity to pass on their knowledge to the next generation of doctors, nurses and researchers.
Indeed, it is difficult to find any KU Medical Center teacher who does not declare the sheer joy of teaching to be their first love.
Research still plays a central and valued role, but by opting to educate, they are ensuring a significant impact not just on their
fields, but on the lives of those who will continue their work. “Teaching is the best complement to research,” Gustavo Blanco, MD, an associate professor of molecular and integrative biology said. “Research requires patience and is highly important, but the best day is the day we can transfer that information and knowledge. It’s the logical extension of research.”
The method of how to transfer that knowledge to students is where these respected teachers tend to diverge. Some maintain that a
blend of theory and clinical application is the best way to educate, while others promote a strictly practical approach to learning. But in each case, the professors return to the importance of a personal connection between student and course material.
“When I was a student, I thought the best professors were those who had recognition of me as a student,” Kathy Fletcher, RN, PhD, MSN, CS, a clinical assistant professor at the KU School of Nursing said. “They hooked what I was learning with the practical use of that material, and that led me to make a better connection with it.”
The current approach to medical education, as evidenced by the Medical Center’s new curriculum, provides students with a basis
of learning from a broad spectrum of medical and biological areas, while still allowing lessons of specific technique and skill for highly specialized practice areas. This development, Dr. Blanco said, creates a need for medical instructors who can lay a foundation of theory while still communicating clinical concepts. Third-year medical student Andrew Schlachter sees the impact of this synthesis firsthand. “Some of the best lessons I’ve learned at KUMC have not been from the textbooks or coursework, but rather from the faculty members who have actual experience in the lab or as a practicing physician,” Schlachter said. “Those clinicians help all of us span the gap between what’s written in the textbook and how medical care and research works in the real world.”
The uniting force behind every instructor at KU Medical Center’s medical, nursing and allied health schools appears to be, quite simply, an innate affection for teaching. It should come as no surprise that such a respected group of teachers derives such satisfaction from connecting with their enthusiastic students. “I really just love the interaction with students,” Dr. Blanco enthused. “I learn so much from them in class. There’s no better way to learn something than to teach it, and we love the moment when students understand the information.”
Nursing clinical instructor Naomi King, RN, MS, echoed that sentiment. “My favorite part is when I see the confidence build up in a
student, and when you see that light bulb go off when they truly understand.”+
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The University of Kansas Medical Center