Retired physicians take on coaching roles to aid medical students
When the University of Kansas School of Medicine-Wichita needed to find coaches for its medical students, it drafted some retired physicians living in the Wichita area.

When the University of Kansas School of Medicine-Wichita needed to find coaches for its medical students, it drafted some retired physicians living in the Wichita area.
Academic coaching is a growing concept in medical education, especially in the past several years, according to the American Medical Association. The coaching program at KU School of Medicine-Wichita was created as part of the Active, Competency-based and Excellence-driven (ACE) curriculum that was rolled out at all KU medical school campuses in 2017.
Coaching differs from mentoring or advising in that coaching is about self-actualization for the student and helping them become better versions of themselves.
"Coaching is a lot different, I discovered," said David Miller, M.D., a family medicine physician who retired in 2018 after a 42-year career spent caring for patients and teaching residents in Wichita. "Mentoring is more sharing experiences of having been down the road, but with coaching the students need to come up with solutions and answers to let them take their own path."
With an annual influx of new third-year students coming from KU's Kansas City campus to complete their final two years of medical education in Wichita, KU School of Medicine-Wichita academic leaders needed to find additional coaches beyond its existing faculty.
At one point, said Scott Moser, M.D., associate dean for curriculum at KU School of Medicine-Wichita, the school considered hiring outside professional non-physician coaches. Instead, it tapped into the local retired and part-time physician demographic for coaching. As far as he can tell, Moser said, no other U.S. medical school is using retirees as coaches.
Miller, as well as Barbara Coats, M.D., and Ron Brown, M.D., were among the first retired physicians recruited to help coach local medical students. Each now coaches about 15 students, with about half being third-year students and the other half being fourth-year students.
In various stages of retirement, all three had already been helping with the school's Standardized Patient program as physician observers. Of the current 13 physician coaches available to third- and fourth-year students, seven are retired, Moser said. Full- and part-time faculty comprise the other six coaches.
In the coaching program, students meet with their assigned coaches at least three times: in the fall and spring semesters of their third year and in the fall semester of their fourth year. Coaches can also be available for additional meetings if students request more help.
As part of the coaching program, students write a critical reflection paper. Going through that experience helped her gain introspection, fourth-year student Nicole Farha said. Fellow fourth-year student Danielle Corbett said her coach provided much-needed feedback on the personal statement she's submitting with her applications for residency programs.
Coats, who retired from a 29-year career in 2015, said she's been impressed with the quality of students she's coached.
"It makes me feel good about the future of our profession," she said.
For Brown, participating as a coach seemed a good fit for him.
"I've always had a passion for supporting students," said Brown, who spent much of his 36-year career with Wichita Family Medicine Specialists before his retirement in late 2013.
As a coach, Brown said, he is supporting students by helping them with self-realization and self-reflection. He also is helping students further define their core values, which are an important part of being a physician, he said.
"Times evolve and the practice of medicine has changed, but one's core values tend to stay the same."
While the primary goal of the coaching program is to help students form their professional identity, it gives students another advantage: one more person in their corner who is trying to help them succeed.
"I think having coaches who have been down the road is beneficial," Miller said. "I am here for the students' benefit and to help them grow."