Lifelong Master Adaptive Learner

A lifelong master adaptive learner is defined as a physician who focuses on learning, thrives in changing environments, and is committed to ongoing personal and professional development, possessing the necessary adaptive expertise to integrate new knowledge and address challenges in healthcare environments.

How We Develop Master Adaptive Learners

The MAL identity is woven throughout the curriculum, with the Profession of Medicine and Identities (POMI) course serving as the foundation.

Longitudinal Coaching

Each student partners with a trained faculty coach who supports development across all four phases of the MAL framework—planning, learning, assessing, and adjusting. Through regular 1:1 conversations, students analyze performance data, identify “disorienting dilemmas,” and refine individualized learning plans.

Reflections and goal-setting are documented in the Master Adaptive Learner Log (MALL), a structured reflective tool where students document their goals, performance insights, disorienting dilemmas, and learning plans to support continuous growth across the MAL cycle.

Self-Directed Learning

Students practice the skills of self-directed learning through structured sessions that guide them to identify knowledge gaps, appraise information sources, and receive faculty feedback on their learning plans. These experiences strengthen habits of self-assessment, independent inquiry, and strategic learning.

Deliberate Practice & Reflection

Across the curriculum, students learn evidence-based strategies—retrieval practice, spaced repetition, cognitive load management, and reflective exercises such as error-analysis and OSCE review—to deepen understanding and refine their approach to learning.