What is a Dynamic Learner and Educator?

Why make learning how to be an effective learner and educator, explicit outcomes of the new program?

Effective medical practice is a lifelong journey of learning. Medical knowledge, practice and technology change over time. In an ever-changing field, the onus falls to the individual practitioner to continuously enhance their knowledge and practice, independently.

But, we learn how to learn mostly by reproducing habits we picked when we were taught. If our experiences of teaching learning were content-heavy and teacher focused our habits of learning will mirror that approach – the learning agenda “set” by the teacher, resources provided, and the approach to learning will be passive.

Something much more effective is required. The DLE theme will equip our next generation of medical practitioners to be curious, agile, motivated, self-directed, with the ability to honestly and humbly appraise their own learning needs, and create and pursue a relevant personalised learning agenda.

However, medical doctors also teach. They teach each other, they teach medical students, junior colleagues, others in the care team; they teach their patients, and their patients’ families, and they are often involved in communicating medical and health ideas to the broader community. As with learning, we are most likely to adopt an approach to teaching that a similar to what we experienced as learners.  We aim to transform the approach taken to “teaching” from one of “transmitting content” to one of “facilitating others’ learning”.

These two changes -- innovations in learning and teaching --  go hand in hand, and will produce a next-generation medical workforce of agentic, self-directed, facilitative and “dynamic” learners and educators.

A/Professor Calvin Smith
Theme Lead - Dynamic Learner and Educator
Academic Lead - Staff Development