After teaching medical education on three different continents, Stephen Scott, M.D., is ready to call the TCU and UNTHSC School of Medicine home in the role of academic chair of medical education and director of the longitudinal integrated clerkship, the school announced today.
“It’s been gratifying to experience the tremendous enthusiasm and commitment from the talented staff and faculty already hard at work creating a school for the future, as well as the groundswell of support from the entire Fort Worth community,” Scott said in the release. “I’m excited to see how our future students will lead medicine through their compassionate and masterful care.”
In his new role, Scott will handle planning, policy, operations and oversight of the medical education department, as well as lead the school’s new clinical mode that, according to the release, allows students to engage with patients much earlier and more consistently than within the traditional clinical framework.
Each student will be assigned to shadow faculty preceptors (physicians working in clinical settings) representing individual specialties. Additionally, students will receive small caseloads of patients selected to meet specific learning objectives and they will accompany said patients to all medical appointments, emergency department visits and testing. According to the release, the goal is for this type of engagement to allow for consistency and empathy among the med students.
“Patients are some of the best teachers we have, but we have to listen” Scott said in the release. “Our future students will be smart, dedicated and have the ability to absorb ever-changing information. We have a great opportunity to nurture their ability to pause, listen and care for the person, not just their diagnosis.”
Most recently, Scott served as associate dean for student affairs at Weill Cornell Medicine – Qatar, but he also has experience teaching medical students and residents at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. Scott’s teaching career began in Russia at Kazan State Medical University where he taught English to medical students and faculty.
“The TCU and UNTHSC School of Medicine is changing the way we deliver medical education, and I am grateful to have Dr. Scott, who will lead that innovation within our clinical model with expertise, wisdom and passion,” Jacqueline Chadwick, vice dean for Educational Affairs and Accreditation, said in the release. “His love for fostering student success and creating meaningful connections make him an invaluable asset as we build this program.”
In his tenure, Scott has received multiple grants and awards for educational leadership and innovation, including the President’s Award and the Innovative Program Award by the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine for his development and delivery of online virtual patient cases now used in the majority of U.S. medical schools.
When not practicing and teaching medicine one can find Scott at the piano. According to the release, Scott credits his music teachers for his ability as an educator, emphasizing the importance of vulnerability and recognition of learning’s many dimensions.
“Medicine will always be an art, no matter how advanced,” Scott said in the release. “We’ll always be helping people and we’ll always connect, learn from and grieve with them. To the degree that we do all those things well, it facilitates our abilities to be effective healers.”
Scott holds biochemistry and music degrees from Houston’s Rice University, and a medical degree from Baylor College of Medicine. He completed his residency in family medicine at the University of Washington, as well as completed several fellowships in medical education, and earned a Master of Public Health, from Johns Hopkins University.