It was 3 a.m. on a brisk mid-November night. Flu season was in full swing, and Stanford Hospital had been at full capacity for two weeks straight. Inside the team room, internal medicine residents Prerak Juthani, MD, and Amity Eliaz, MD, finally found a fleeting moment of respite. The room, dimly lit and filled with the hum of medical equipment, was their temporary sanctuary. Both physically and emotionally drained, they sank into their chairs, exchanging sighs of relief.  

The two residents began to recount the past several nights. They spoke of responding to urgent messages, racing between units, and coordinating ICU transfers. Amid the chaos, a pattern emerged in their stories. It was the small acts of kindness and moments of clear, respectful communication that stood out. These simple gestures had the remarkable power to transform challenges – and even moments of crisis – into opportunities for connection and resilience. 

Eliaz and Juthani were onto something. In fact, they had stumbled upon an issue that was endemic to hospital systems nationwide. A study published in The British Medical Journal found that communication failures are a common cause of inadvertent patient harm. The study emphasized the importance of fostering an environment where individuals could speak up, express concerns, and share common “critical language” to alert team members to unsafe situations.

Kindness Kickbacks

In the bustling break room at Stanford Hospital, the latest event hosted by TKC gathers momentum. Over 50 healthcare professionals from diverse fields – doctors, nurses, social workers, technicians, and more – convene not just for the provided boba and cookies, but for a cause much more vital: fostering kindness within the stress-laden corridors of the hospital.

This event is called a “Kindness Kickback.” It’s a monthly initiative organized by TKC that allows healthcare workers to build relationships, share communication strategies, and unwind together. 

As the event unfolds, people stream in and out of the break room. Some arrive with heavy expressions, visibly weighed down by the stressors that lie just beyond the break-room door. However, after a few minutes, their energy visibly shifts. Expressions soften, the room rings with laughter. 

In close collaboration with leaders from the Division of Primary Care and Population Health, Go’s team recruited the program director, developed outpatient and inpatient experiences, built relationships with community clinics, and interfaced with future educators in the Tri-Valley.

“Dr. Go has exerted extraordinary efforts that have advanced the missions of Stanford University and Stanford Health Care,” says Tri-Valley’s chief medical officer, David Svec, MD.

As Tri-Valley expanded, Go zeroed in on the lack of family doctors in the area by turning her attention to building out the much-anticipated Family Medicine Residency Program. 

Trained, Dedicated Mentors

The MODEL leads’ commitment to this initiative is as impressive as it is inspiring. In addition to the myriad personal and professional demands on clinical faculty, MODEL leads undergo three months of formal training with the Teaching and Mentoring Academy in the School of Medicine. The curriculum covers, among other topics, mentorship principles, communication strategies, and teaching methodologies. Leads also engage in continuing learning from the medical school’s Office of Academic Affairs, as well as the department’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Council; Team Science initiatives; and Making SPACE program.

MODEL leads serve their term as dedicated faculty to help facilitate promotion and advancement of their colleagues, train others to develop strong mentoring relationships, and provide ongoing workshops to promote networking and mentorship. 

Behind the leads’ dedication to the program’s mission is a sense of the importance of establishing mentorship as a core cultural value in the department and converting that shared belief into regular practice across divisions. 

“Mentorship has traditionally been an expectation in academic departments, rather than an intentional investment and strategy to support the success, well-being, and belonging of our early-career faculty,” says Niraj Sehgal, MD, clinical professor of hospital medicine and senior associate dean for clinical affairs in the School of Medicine. “MODEL is such an exemplary program to achieve those goals.”

Connecting Mentees and Mentors Across Divisions and Career Stages

To achieve that common objective, MODEL mentors and mentees initiate and engage in small and large group discussions celebrating mentorship as beneficial for faculty members at all stages of their careers.

Mentorship Matters

With the first year of operation complete and planning for the next year underway, the MODEL program is very much in the hearts and minds of department participants and leaders, and many are invested in its continuing success. 

“MODEL reminds us of why we’re grateful to be at Stanford and in an environment where we’re continually finding ways to invest in ourselves and each other,” Sehgal reflects.  

Former program leader Upinder Singh, MD, shares, “We should call the story ‘a labor of love,’ since that really is what we are talking about.” Her program co-leads, Kavitha Ramchandran, MD, and Rebecca Geraldi, readily agree.

Far too often, medical institutions don’t offer that space and instead enable others to dismiss Latin American individuals with talent and experience.

“I’ve had physicians say, ‘What are you doing here? Why are you telling me what to do? You’re female. You’re from México,’ because I don’t introduce myself as a trained physician,” Dalia VanderZee affirms.

VanderZee practiced medicine in Mexico before moving to the United States and now works as an administrative division director at Stanford. Despite being in the Department of Medicine, she still is greeted with disbelief when she brings up her experience as a physician.

Research indicates that patient-practitioner communications improve when the clinician and the patient are of similar backgrounds. The endocrinology fellowship program leverages that fact in reviewing applicants for its internationally renowned post-residency training program.

The selection process is arduous, entailing a close review of an individual’s residency experiences, recommendations, and interest in academic medicine. But equally important in reviewing applicants is assuring that the chosen fellows represent diverse backgrounds. 

“We want to be sure we’re enriching the physician workforce with highly trained practitioners who represent many heritages and ethnicities,” says chief of endocrinology, gerontology, and metabolism Joy Wu, MD, PhD. “This increases the likelihood that future patients will have a pool of physicians to choose from whose backgrounds align with their own.” 

Julie Chen, MD, is the program director of the Stanford Department of Medicine’s endocrinology fellowship program. “In deciding who to interview and rank, we try to look beyond the objective data,” she says. “This includes looking at candidates’ clinical and research interests, reviewing what opportunities they’ve taken advantage of in their local communities, and how they have incorporated diversity into their medical training.”