What is your teaching philosophy?
I believe that effective learning happens when students are engaged in and take stewardship of their learning. My teaching philosophy is based on facilitating the development of this mindset in medical education. This is accomplished in three ways:
1 by offering contextual guidance and interpretation that is appropriate for learner levels;
2 by thoughtful curriculum design and rethinking pedagogy; and
3 by inspiring through relationships and personal example.

My role as a clinical teacher is to help students leverage their prior knowledge and formulate their clinical frameworks for application to real patient care. This involves engaging them in cycles of experimentation, reflection, conceptualization, and application (see schema below). The art of teaching and my personal teaching goal is in seizing the moments of intervention during “reflection” and “conceptualization” (in red), while “experimentation” and “application” are largely student-driven processes (in green). The overall efficacy of the learning cycle is exponentiated through adopting appropriate learning tools and cultivating a positive environment.

What is the most rewarding part of teaching?
Without a doubt, the most rewarding part of teaching has to be the relationships fostered with my students and to watch them learn, progress, and flourish! This is one of the reasons I love my role at HKUMed, that apart from treating patients, I get to be engaged with medical students, who come from all sorts of different backgrounds and each have their unique contribution to offer to our campus and community.

Within class, it is wonderful to interact with students and to witness their “lightbulb moments” – when things seem to suddenly click into place for them. I enjoy sharing my own learning journey and hopefully helping them find joy and meaning in theirs. Outside of class, it’s fascinating to hear about what my students do. They continually motivate me to challenge myself even more.

What kind of teacher-student relationship do you establish?
It may sound cliched, but I hope to be a teacher and a friend. Teaching is my primary responsibility, and I need to make sure they learn well. I can be quite strict at times. After all, practicing medicine demands the highest level of rigor. We are all ultimately responsible to our patients, and they deserve the best possible care. However, I do not aspire to communicate unidirectionally or indoctrinate my students, there are so many opportunities for growth for both parties in fostering a more open and inviting mentoring relationship.