Curing the Curriculum – Students’ Take on Medical Education
We are international medical students at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, engaging in conversations about what medical education is - and what it could be. We ask: What should medical education look like? And what did the curriculum forget to teach us explicitly? Join us on a journey towards more care, more humanity, and a curriculum worth shaping together.
Know thy impact - what works BEST in education? John Hattie #CTC17
Isn’t it weird that we value a second opinion in medicine but this is not really a thing in education? Isn’t it weird that we first collect the data and then treat patients but do it the other way round in teaching?
John Hattie is probably one of the most renowned scientist in the field of education research and still, after many years in the business, keeps being greedy. He developed the most commonly used feedback model in higher education and keeps advertising to focus on the process instead of the achievement.
What characterizes a great teacher? What do students need to learn? Why are high achievers often rewarded and students who put in the effort of working through struggles not? Who’s fault is is actually if a student fails the course?
These are some of the topics we cover in this episode. Although there are more practical tips for teachers and faculty, also as a student this talk might be very interesting in order to become more autonomous in learning and especially choosing the right teachers.
To contact us, get in touch via email: hi[At]curemeded.com & follow us on Instagram @curingthecurriculum
16 Sept 2026
Learning is not an assembly line - AI, bias and the mess of learning: Margaret Bearman #CTC16
You've asked AI a question you were too embarrassed to ask your supervisor. Handy. But what does it cost when we start routing around the awkward, slow, human business of learning from other humans?
In this episode we talk with Professor Margaret Bearman from Deakin University about AI, bias, and why efficiency might be the most misleading word in education.
We get into the black box problem, and why she thinks the real skill isn't opening it, it's knowing a good output when you see one. We talk about bias: not just in AI, but the fact that data can quietly replace the patient in front of you. And we build on the philosopher Lauren Berlant to argue that teaching and learning are supposed to be inconvenient, and that this is a feature, not a bug.
A conversation about mess, judgement, and why the most useful question a medical student can ask isn't "is this right?" but "how would I know?"
To contact us, get in touch via email: hi[At]curemeded.com & follow us on Instagram @curingthecurriculum
12 Aug 2026
Why is there bread in my feedback? Liz Molloy on feedback literacy, trust and clinical learning #CTC15
In this conversation with Liz Molloy we cover the paleo case against the feedback sandwich, why emotions in feedback are not a problem to be managed away, how trust is earned one dip of the toe at a time, and why the student who stayed behind to put the blanket back over the patient may be the most valuable person on the ward.
Liz is Pro Vice-Chancellor of Curriculum at the University of Melbourne and has collaborated extensively with Rola Ajjawi, Margaret Bearman, David Boud and David Carless - and her work is all about feedback literacy.
To contact us, get in touch via email: hi[At]curemeded.com & follow us on Instagram @curingthecurriculum
15 Jul 2026
When the curriculum walks through the door: Lucie Walters on rural generalism and clinical courage #CTC14
What is clinical courage? How do we push our boundaries without becoming reckless, and how do we grow into it as students and doctors? In this episode we sit down with Professor Lucie Walters, a rural generalist in Mount Gambier, South Australia. She explains clinical courage when your community has nowhere else to turn. Lucie walks us through the mnemonic she and her team built for doing this safely, reframes courage as a community act rather than a cowboy one, and shares some surprising findings about working at the edge of your scope. We also dive into longitudinal integrated clerkships. Instead of speed-dating through specialty blocks, students spend up to a full year in one rural community where, as Lucie puts it, "the curriculum walks through the door." She explains why interleaving beats block rotations, how supervisors turn into lifelong mentors, and why students on LICs report better wellbeing than their hospital-based peers.
To contact us, get in touch via email: hi[At]curemeded.com & follow us on Instagram @curingthecurriculum
17 Jun 2026
Clinical Reasoning - How to become a medical detective: Ligia Cayres Ribeiro #CTC13
Clinical Reasoning is the process every doctor uses to solve medical puzzles. From collecting evidence to connecting the clues and finally identifying the culprit in order to choose the proper way to handle it - basically detective work.
But how do we learn this? Is it just about building up knowledge, becoming the smart genius who can relate all the pieces of the puzzle? Or is it more complex? For sure it remains complex to assess students progress in clinical reasoning in such a way that they don’t loose motivation to continue to grow.
We talked to Ligia Cayres Ribeiro, Assistant Professor at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands and head of a research group on clinical reasoning and technology-enhanced learning. Ligia explains how to research such an abstract concept, what aspects are important to teach and why Dr. House might not be the diagnostic genius that we think.
To contact us with any reaction, suggestion or other interaction, get in touch via email: hi[At]curemeded.com & follow us on Instagram @curingthecurriculum
13 May 2026
Who gets to wear the white coat? Inequity from lecture hall to clinic: Soumeya Mezian & Lianne Mulder #CTC12
Find a healthcare provider in the Netherlands who speaks your language on https://ikspreekmeerdan.nl/
Who gets to wear the white coat, and what does that ultimately mean for the people across from them? Look around a Dutch medical lecture hall, then look around a medical waiting room. The pictures don't match. So where are people leaking out of the pipeline to medical professional, and why does it matter for excellent patient care? We talk to Soumeya Mezian (medical student and multilingual translator) and Dr. Lianne Mulder (sociologist, PhD) about the Moroccan patient whose vitamin D was never tested, the Turkish woman who calls an igloo an oven, PhD vacancies that never make it online, and why "the curriculum is already full" is not a good reason to skip addressing these issues.
To contact us, get in touch via email: hi[At]curemeded.com & follow us on Instagram @curingthecurriculum
14 Apr 2026
Form vs. feedback - from rituals to relationships in the clinic: Rola Ajjawi #CTC11
Why does filling out feedback forms feel like a ritual nobody believes in? What if the most powerful feedback you ever received wasn't on a form at all?
In this episode, we sit down with Professor Rola Ajjawi - physiotherapist turned feedback researcher, professor of medical education at the University of British Columbia, and editor-in-chief of Medical Education. Rola takes us inside the science of feedback cultures: why surgery and ICU produce wildly different learning conversations, how emotions can freeze or fuel your growth, and why starting with "what's your goal today?" might matter more than any assessment rubric. We talk about vulnerability, what feedback literacy means, and why uncoupling feedback from grades could change things. Whether you're a student trying to make it through your next clinical placement or a supervisor wondering why your feedback doesn't quite land, this one's for you.
To contact us, get in touch via email: hi[At]curemeded.com & follow us on Instagram @curingthecurriculum
17 Mar 2026
Planetary Health: Changing the “How its done here” - Luise Bödecker & Lukas Radema #CTC10
“Climate change presents a fundamental threat to human health.” (WHO). Everyday we are confronted with discussions about being more green. But is that really a topic that a doctor should care about? At least our expertise lies elsewhere.
Luise Bödecker and Lukas Radema joined us for this episode to give a comprehensive overview about why we indeed should care. With a lot of passion, combined with philosophy and a research background in the field of planetary health they explain why it is ok to be hypocrite, how doctors react to being confronted with the underlying science, how we could teach the next generation and what role patients autonomy plays in this matter.
Despite being a potentially depressing topic, we managed to keep up an optimistic talk and Luise and Lukas gave quite some motivating perspectives. So join us for this episode to get an overview, understand why people are motivated to change things and get ideas about how everyone could contribute their bit.
To contact us, get in touch via email: hi[At]curemeded.com & follow us on Instagram @curingthecurriculum
25 Jan 2026
MedGPT: Can a chatbot teach medicine? – Kai Yu Ma #CTC09
In this episode we start the conversation about a topic that you cant ignore anymore. Everyone is talking about and to AI. We were curious how this is affecting the world of medical education.
Is it a huge problem that we outsource thinking? Can AI even “think”? Can AI replace teachers? How do we stay up to date with this rapid development?
Kai Yu Ma, assistant professor, teacher and researcher at the UMCG, joined us to talk about those questions and many more. We discuss the background of large language models, implementations in the curriculum as well as risks, chances and hypothetical possibilities.
The conversation gives some answers but probably even more new questions about what will come in the near future. Probably stuff to talk about again some time with different perspectives, so please feel free to let us know your thoughts and feelings on this topic.
To contact us, get in touch via email: hi[At]curemeded.com & follow us on Instagram @curingthecurriculum
16 Dec 2025
Why we need leaders who actually care — Joshua Hartzell #CTC8
Leadership isn't about titles or positions — it's about what you actually do. In this episode, we talk with Dr. Joshua Hartzell, retired Army Colonel and infectious disease physician, about why taking care of your team is the foundation of taking care of patients. From thanking your resident at the end of the day to stopping negative talk about other specialties, Josh shares practical wisdom from many years in military medicine. We discuss why silence is also feedback, how to give tough feedback when it matters, and why self-care alone won't fix a broken system. His book, A Prescription for Caring in Healthcare Leadership, is now available — and despite the title, it's not just for people in formal leadership roles. Students, residents, nurses, anyone navigating a team can find something useful inside. Oh — and why baking chocolate chip cookies might make you a better leader.
To contact us, get in touch via email: hi[At]curemeded.com & follow us on Instagram @curingthecurriculum
11 Nov 2025
Who Am I as a Doctor? Professional Identity Formation with SCOPE #CTC7
What actually makes you a doctor? Is it the white coat, the stethoscope, or something deeper? In this episode, we sit down with Margreet Smit and Miranda Trippenzee from SCOPE - the UMCG's expertise centre for personal development - to explore professional identity formation in medical education. We dive into the difference between socialization (fitting in) and subjectification (becoming yourself), and why both matter when you're navigating medical school. Along the way, we discuss why medicine feels a bit like dating, why students are people first and how reflection can help you become the kind of doctor you want to be - without burning out in the process. From stress and performance pressure to curious, healthy professionals: this conversation is about making space for who you are while becoming who you're meant to be.
Check out SCOPE’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@scope-centerofexpertiseper1541/videos
To contact us, get in touch via email: hi[At]curemeded.com & follow us on Instagram @curingthecurriculum
14 Oct 2025
The living mosaic - Role models in MedEd: Isabella Spaans #CTC6
What is a role model and why does this matter in medical education? How do students choose their role models? How can I be a good role model? Together with Dr. Isabella Spaans, we explored these and more questions about a topic which is often mentioned but rarely discussed in depth. From her research which specifically focuses on role models in medical education, and especially the students' perspective, Isabella shares a lot of insights and many catchy comparisons like dating as well as cherries and other foods.
To contact us, get in touch via email: hi[At]curemeded.com & follow us on Instagram @curingthecurriculum
17 Sept 2025
The Art of Saying No: Professional Resistance with Tasha Wyatt #CTC5
How do you speak up when you think the surgeon is making a mistake? What does it mean to resist just to exist in medicine? Why should one steak up against social harm or injustice? In this conversation with Dr. Tasha Wyatt, we explore the idea of professional resistance - how learners can push back against hierarchy, hidden curriculum, and systemic injustice to protect their identity and integrity. Drawing on Wyatt’s influential work, including ‘Those Darn Kids’ and ‘I Have to Resist Simply to Exist’, we discuss how resistance can be both a burden and yet a powerful form of agency. From resistor identity formation to the risks of speaking up, this episode asks what it really means to be “professional” in environments where silence is often safer, yet detrimental.
To contact us, get in touch via email: hi[At]curemeded.com & follow us on Instagram @curingthecurriculum
15 Jul 2025
The Hidden Curriculum - unspoken lessons of med school: Fred Hafferty #CTC4
What is the hidden curriculum of medicine and why don’t we talk about it? Join us and hidden curriculum veteran Professor Fred Hafferty in exploring the informal norms and invisible forces shaping medical training. We talk about students as sheep vs. cats, the possible rise of altruistic zombies, and why the question “Will this be on the exam?” reflects more than it seems. Fred shares bold ideas for a utopian future curriculum - one that values meaning over metrics and co-creation over compliance. It’s a deeper, longer listen that just might change how you see medical education.
11 Jun 2025
Curing reflective zombies in med school: Anne de la Croix #CTC3
Anne de la Croix, Assistant Professor at Amsterdam UMC, discusses how medical education reflection has lost its soul and become skillification, advocating for discomfort and uncertainty in learning in this interview.
13 May 2025
From McDreamy to Burnout: Dan Shapiro #CTC2
Burnout isn't just about an individual being tired - it's about systems that forget you're human. In this episode of Curing the Curriculum, we talk with Dr. Dan Shapiro: clinical psychologist, burnout researcher, and former consultant for Grey’s Anatomy. From missed meals to midnight lectures, we unpack how medical training sometimes breaks the very people it aims to build. Dan shares what leadership and listening should look like and how the Dutch healthcare system might just be getting things right. Oh - and why pizza nights aren’t enough.
Get in touch via email: hi[At]curemeded.com & follow us on Insta @curingthecurriculum
22 Apr 2025
Let’s talk about medical education #CTC1
We discuss our background and why we started 'Curing the Curriculum'. As international medical students in the Netherlands, we hope to engage in conversations about what medical education is - and what it could be. Please join us on a journey towards more care, more humanity, and a curriculum worth shaping together. Get in touch via email: hi[At]curemeded.com & follow us on Insta @curingthecurriculum
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