Clayton J. Baker, MD

Clayton J. Baker, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry and member of the General Medicine Division, has been awarded a Dean’s Teaching Fellowship by the University for 2005-2007.  During the Fellowship, Dr. Baker will develop and teach a new seminar course for medical students which will use the close study of creative literature and the narrative process to develop students’ medical history taking and presentation skills. 

Throughout, Dr. Baker will be working closely with members of the Division of Medical Humanities.  This course represents an exciting new addition to the medical student curriculum in the emerging field of narrative medicine.

Catherine Gracey, MD

Dr. Catherine Gracey’s research is focused on humanistic care of the patient and how to teach that to residents and other learners.   Current projects include a multi-center faculty development series in which a core group of faculty opinion leaders and role models meet for workshops in which they practice skills felt to be critical to the provision and teaching of humanistic care.  They also meet for sessions in which the focus is personal awareness, an essential aspect of professional development and reflective learning.  Another multi-center project is an observational study of recognized excellent teachers of humanism.  In this study, patient/learner/faculty encounters were audiotaped; the audiotapes, along with field notes of the bedside interaction and analysis of structured interviews of the participants were then used to identify techniques used in teaching.  The study group with whom she works has also presented workshops and precourses nationally for faculty development in this area of study.