Junior Faculty Teaching Fellow Spotlight: Anna Richmond, Nursing
Each month, the CFT Newsletter highlights the work of our Junior Faculty Teaching Fellows. This month Anna Richmond, Nursing, talks about her teaching philosophy and interests.
Anna Richmond
I teach clinical and didactic nursing courses to Family Nurse Practitioner students at the Vanderbilt University School of Nursing. I also co-teach a course in Interprofessional Education to the Vanderbilt University Medical School students. At the School of Nursing, we have three semesters to transfer a large amount of information to our full-time students. This means that from the student perspective, time is valuable and every minute of learning needs to be meaningful. To create meaningful experiences for my students, I design my courses to reach each type of learner in the course and plan activities that will engage the student during our time together. Setting the expectation of active participation during class time challenges the student to come to class prepared, but also provides students perspectives on topics other than my own perspective. As I evaluate my course design each year, I look at the curriculum through the eyes of the student. If I think the student would not find the presentation format engaging, then I brainstorm other ways to deliver the information.
My favorite part of teaching is spending time in clinic precepting students. This is when you get to experience those “Aha” moments. Students are always amazed to see that the information learned in the classroom has real application, and they are even more surprised to find that they actually know the information. The self-awareness and self-confidence that students build through these interactions is priceless.
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