Michael Brown, DO

Family Medicine Physician & Provider of Innovative Technology

North Kansas City Hospital

Cheryl McKearin, MA 

Manager, Academic Technology and Learning Innovation

Learning Technology Solutions

John Irish, MD

Department of Radiology 

Let's start with your current role. What do you do at UICOMP?

I’m the program director for the independent interventional radiology/diagnostic radiology residency here at UICOMP, and I serve as an assistant professor of radiology.

What levels of learners do you typically work with?

Primarily diagnostic and IR/DR residents in the radiology department, though we often have residents from other UICOMP departments rotate through, along with medical students.

Tell us a little about your path to this role 

With the exception of my residency and fellowship training, I've been a lifelong Illinoisan. I did my undergraduate years at Augustana College in the Quad Cities, completed my MD/MS at Rush Medical/Graduate College in Chicago, did a radiology residency at the University of Missouri in Columbia, and then a Vascular Interventional Radiology fellowship at Indiana University (yes, it was still a fellowship in those days!). 

When did you join UICOMP?

I spent the first three years of my career at another private institution in Illinois before joining UICOMP in the summer of 2022.

What inspired you to become a medical educator?

Honestly, I never planned on being a medical educator, as I found the GME experience as a trainee, putting it mildly, frustrating. As it so happened, both of my jobs post-fellowship have involved medical education, and I’ve come to enjoy it from the faculty side. It is a really neat thing watching residents grow and improve over the course of their training. I’ve also been fortunate to have a great cadre of trainees during my time at UICOMP who have made me work harder, so I don’t get (constantly) outsmarted by my own residents!

What core values shape your teaching philosophy?

See one, do one. I am a big believer in giving trainees hands-on experience, and residency is the perfect time for that.

Which educational framework has had the biggest influence on your teaching approach?

I’m a big believer in building a solid foundation of knowledge through independent reading, and then applying it in case-based or “hot seat” style conferences. This approach extends into both clinic and procedural settings, where real-time discussion of cases is one of the best ways to cement knowledge for both trainees and me.

“What Do Learners Really Want?”

Tip: Teaching with Autonomy in mind.

Imagine this:
You’ve spent your weekend preparing a thoughtful, engaging session, carefully choosing cases and learning activities to spark discussion and deepen understanding.

Monday comes. You arrive at your session, and just four learners show up.

Later, you hear that some learners have been calling the session “a waste of time.”

It's frustrating. And it raises a question:

What do students really want?

Often, what students perceive as "useful" reflects the level of ownership they feel over their learning. According to Self-Determination Theory, a framework for understanding motivation, autonomy is a core driver of motivation. A learner who is autonomously or intrinsically motivated has a greater sense of agency and volition. Consequently, the learner will more likely engage deeply with the content and develop self-regulation.

How can you enhance learner autonomy?

Tap into learners' intrinsic motivations. For example, connect course material to learners’ aspirations to become competent physicians and to their ongoing development of a professional identity.

Make the value of 'boring' content explicit. Even dry topics have purpose. Providing a rationale for 'boring' content can enhance learner autonomy. For example, you may say, "Understanding the health system prepares you to be a physician leader. When issues like delayed discharges arise, you're able to help fix them.” 

Give students more responsibility for their learning. Encourage independent exploration among your learners. Consider closing sessions with open-ended questions that prompt deeper inquiry. Offer resources for further study and assign “nice-to-know” topics for self-directed learning.