Coaching

The Gateway Coaching Program is in place to promote and develop a longitudinal coaching relationship to aid in the lifelong learning and medical education journey of the learner.  Each medical student is assigned a Faculty Coach and coaching cohort of 8 peers, with which they will remain for the duration of their medical education at WUSM.

Students will meet as a small group coaching cohort weekly in order to synthesize curriculum, build relationships with their peers and coach, and explore personal journeys up to and throughout medical education.  Students will also meet frequently 1:1 with their coaches to gain direct individual coaching and feedback on skills and competencies, and develop an Individualized Learning Plan (ILP).

Approach to student coaching in the Gateway Curriculum

Guiding Principles

The Coaching Program aligns with Gateway Curriculum Guiding Principles:

  • Use of a competency-based curricular structure that provides standardization of learning outcomes but individualization of process through backwards design
  • Development of an assessment system that is transparent and continuously incorporating both regular feedback and routine self-reflection on strengths, direction, and opportunities for growth
  • Use of maximally effective educational methodologies including incorporation of technology and active learning strategies
  • Programming that promotes relationships with peers, teachers, patients and systems of care
  • Ensuring integration of foundational, clinical and social sciences content throughout training with progressive complexity and depth as learners progress —known as helical integration
  • Required and elective longitudinal curricula to support the formation of identity as an academic leader with skill development in: Leadership and teamwork; Science, discovery, and innovation; Teaching and learning; Social determinants of health, community engagement, and advocacy

In addition, the Gateway Coaching Program holds these guiding principles:

  • Effective communication and longitudinal relationships—Enhancing authentic human connection between coaches and learners and within coaching groups as a source of meaning, purpose, and resilience
  • Cooperative inquiry and active listening in all coaching interactions, creating an interactive pattern of discussion where meaning and knowledge are co-constructed, not dictated
  • Individualized support through deep understanding of the Gateway Curriculum and assessments, the WUMS journey, and resources available for WUMS students
  • Guided reflection to guide maximal growth and lifelong learning
  • Courage and humility—to explore identity, health, and illness, of self, patients, communities, and structures and systems of care