Leading Change from Within: A conversation with Dr. Connie Bowe

This episode of the Harvard Macy Institute podcast features Dr. Connie Bowe, clinician, educator, leader, and researcher. She trained as a pediatric neurologist and has been active in medical education design and delivery throughout her career at Stanford and Brown Universities, UC Davis, and beyond. In addition to teaching Neuroscience and Clinical Neurology at these institutions, she has directed Neurology clerkships, chaired strategic educational planning processes, chaired and participated in medical curricula reforms and faculty curriculum committees.  

In this episode, Connie shares her thoughts about leading change in academic organizations. She reflects on the significance of being attuned to culture and of bringing everyone (including critics) along on the journey. Her work in developing case method teaching in medical programs is one such example. Connie tells us about what a systems approach really means in medical education, and we draw upon her publication with Liz Armstrong on Assessment for Systems Learning.  

Connie has been a faculty leader within many HMI programs: Educators, Leaders, and co-director of the Systems Approach to Assessment program. As we wrap up the conversation, she tells us about the impact of HMI on her career and professional life, including the satisfaction of handing over leadership to safe hands. 

Victoria Brazil, MD (Educators, ’05, Leaders ’07, Assessment ‘10) is Professor of Emergency Medicine and Director of Simulation at Bond University Faculty of Health Sciences and Medicine. Her research interests include podcasting and simulation, and she is co-producer of Simulcast - a podcast about health care simulation. Victoria can be followed on Twitter.