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Jennifer M. Capra, D.O.

Jennifer Capra portrait
Clinical Associate Professor, General & Hospital Medicine
jcapra@kumc.edu

Professional Background

For me, the quality of the teacher is based on the effectiveness of teaching the content. The learner must grown and learn from the teaching session for it to be effective. Effectiveness can be measured by participation of the student or by the scores achieved on assessment. If the session has too many topics and the learner retains very little of the information – this can be a poor teacher, and the opposite is true as well – if the teacher doesn’t teach enough – the class can become bored and their full potential isn’t met or challenged.

The learner may gain knowledge and skills that you didn’t have previously and or to improve on that knowledge or skills. This can be a wide range of concepts, facts, skills etc. The goal would be to complete the objectives and the learner is successful at completing those objectives and they are effectively presented.

Concept of teaching is to present the material such that the learner is engaged. From flipped classroom style to workshop or practice of skills. It is also important to have enough opinions and skill levels to allow for diversity. Having multiple strategies is also important – teaching on the fly, identifying weakness, and focus on the topic, or avoiding distraction.

Specifically, in a clinical setting or medicine setting – some of the goals for students would be as follows: The skill that students should obtain – would be the conceptual thinking or problem solving of medicine. To apply the basic science knowledge an clinical knowledge to be able to treat the patient – recognizing that each patient is unique. For preceptor presentations – the goals of the learner is to feel confident in their presentation and to gain more knowledge of the disease process and recognizing the physical exam findings that correlate. For PBL learners and small groups – the goal will be to recognize their weakness and focus on what they don’t know, creating an environment that allows them to ask questions and be inquisitive about focused topics.

I would also want to be a mentor and advisor to the learners and create a professional relationship with the learner that enables them to approach and voice concerns to me as their the mentor. Allowing them to ultimately make the decision themselves, do what is best for them, and to be a sounding board to their thoughts and concerns. I would also have their best interests in mind and try to provide varying viewpoints. Their learning would be evaluated based on those set forth by the curriculum, ideally with multiple different avenues – by peers, by faculty, written exams and demonstrating physical exams. I want to be open to learning to styles and learn from feedback from peers, learners and supervisors.

Education and Training
  • DO, Kansas City Univ of Med&BioSci, Kansas City, MO
  • Residency, Internal Medicine, University of Kansas School of Medicine, Kanas City, KS
Licensure, Accreditations & Certifications
  • ABIM, American Board of Internal Medicine