Terhune lands award for GME contributions
Kyla Terhune, M.D., a General Surgery resident at Vanderbilt, says she once taught high school biology and chemistry just so she could coach basketball. Now, it seems her surgical residency is getting her back into teaching and coaching.
Because of Terhune's work on a series of projects to help new residents prepare for surgery, she has been named one of five inaugural recipients of an award from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). The David C. Leach, M.D. Award acknowledges
Kyla Terhune, M.D.
“This is a tremendous honor, not only for Kyla, but for the Surgery program and Vanderbilt as a whole. Inclusion in the first cohort of award winners speaks to the significance of Kyla's work here,” said Donald Brady, M.D., associate dean for Graduate Medical Education
“She keeps my feet to the fire about advocating for residents and students, and doing the right thing,” said Terhune's mentor, John Tarpley, M.D., professor of Surgery. “She has taught me new ways to teach and organize and has broadened my horizons in terms of understanding the special needs of individuals in residency.”
Terhune credits both Tarpley and Arna Banerjee, M.D., with helping her institute an annual two-day, clinical orientation (also known as “boot camp”) offered to surgery and anesthesiology interns, in conjunction with the Center for Experiential Learning and Assessment (CELA). Terhune also founded an intern “Olympics” to pit interns against one another in a fun way to test skills such as suturing and knot tying.
“Education, and the way people think and organize their thoughts, is interesting to me. But the fact this has fallen into my residency has been great. I would not have expected this would be part of my medical training in this way,” said Terhune.