Okay, finally here after almost a week away from the blog.
The intention to write was there every single day. But somehow one work or another kept popping up, and before I knew it, almost a week had passed.
Now I’m lagging behind on writing and have multiple ideas sitting in my notes waiting to become blog posts.
It’s okay… we’ll slowly catch up.
I was wondering what to write today and a CME I attended a couple of days ago came to my mind.
It was an ECG CME by a very prestigious person in the field. Someone with so many accomplishments that you could genuinely call him a legend.
And credit where it’s due….he taught really well.
Making an ECG class entertaining is honestly not an easy task.
But there was something in the class that kept bothering me. Actually quiet a few but will stick to one example for now.
For context, he was explaining that wide complex rhythms are generally more dangerous and wanted students to remember it as “narrow is good, wide is bad.”
Out of all the examples he could have chosen…
For “narrow is good,” he showed a picture of a slim girl, dressed up nicely.
And for “wide is bad,” he showed a picture of an obese girl and not even a respectful picture at that. It was a very poorly chosen image with not proper attire.
Honestly, this isn’t even about those particular pictures.
I understand that these are probably the kinds of examples many teachers themselves grew up learning from. There was probably no bad intention behind it. But it still made me uncomfortable.
Because you could have simply explained that too much weight is bad or using neutral images or diagrams if really wanted that example.
What if someone in that audience belonged to that weight category?
Boy or girl.
Imagine sitting there while your body type becomes the visual representation of something “bad.”
Maybe some people laugh it off.
Maybe others carry that moment with them.
The thing is, students don’t just learn the subject from teachers.
They also absorb the language, the examples, the attitudes, and the biases…..often without even realizing it.
And when the same kind of examples are repeated over years, they slowly start shaping the way people think.
Maybe that’s why I feel teachers carry a responsibility that goes beyond just teaching the syllabus.
The examples we choose matter.
The jokes we make matter.
The casual comments we pass in a classroom matter.
It may be difficult to change an older generation that learned things differently.
But hopefully, our generation can be a little more mindful.
Not because everyone gets offended.
But because good teaching should make students understand the concept without making someone in the room feel smaller in the process.
“People may forget the lecture, but they rarely forget how a classroom made them feel.”
-Jahnavi Chowdary
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