Chrysanthe L. Parker, EdD (Clinical), JD, F-AAETS, AAETS-CIT/CFT | Training to Teach in Medicine
Training to Teach in Medicine graduate Chrysanthe L. Parker, EdD, JD, is a health care executive and practicing integrative health care provider. Currently, she is the chief executive and clinical operations officer of an integrated medical and clinical practice serving brain-injured patients across the United States.
Parker began her career as a lawyer, then pursued doctoral work in medical traumatology. Combining her clinical work and interest in law and forensics, she is now certified as a medical and forensic traumatologist. In addition, Parker has held appointments as a medical educator and assistant professor adjunct at the University of Texas Medical School, Health Science Center, and as a senior instructor in trauma at the U.S. Army Medical Command Center and School of Health Sciences.
Evolving as a Medical Educator
Training to Teach in Medicine is a six-month certificate program aiming to develop skilled clinical educators who can apply educational theories and best practices to instruct medical students. Parker noted that the program’s focus on evolving participants’ current teaching methods was a highlight of her experience. “Before you think about teaching a subject,” she said, “think about training yourself to be a different teacher…that is truly what this course does for you. It teaches you to be a different teacher and in some ways, that leads you to become a different person.”
Throughout her career, Parker has trained more than 18,000 learners in settings ranging from medical schools to military battlefields. Even with such a multifaceted career, she was amazed to discover her growth from this experience. “Harvard absolutely taught us that we could reinvent how we teach and what we are as teachers. I have learned not only to accept but also to rejoice and expand on innovative notions about what education can and should be,” she said. “No matter how many professionals I have taught, I still had more to learn about teaching than I imagined. This is where the Training to Teach in Medicine program changed the trajectory of my life and practice.”
Real-World Implications
Parker specializes in traumatic stress injury, especially concurrent with traumatic brain injury. She faced an ongoing diagnostic complication: many diagnosed and treated brain injuries generate “false negative” results in MRI, CT, DTI, or other traditional imaging modalities. This often leads to the mistaken assumption that there is no pathology when there may be latent but potentially lethal brain damage.
Using the capstone model as her guide, Parker embarked on a project that uses artificial intelligence software to convert statistical data to a different type of 3D volumetric brain image, which is virtually indistinguishable from the actual brain of the patient. These images now illustrate the otherwise undetected brain injury. She then created a new method of teaching the subject matter to both physicians and personal injury lawyers using the advanced teaching techniques taught in the program. The project was a great success—it’s being used with patients. It has been the subject of two statewide keynote presentations and a prestigious national conference on traumatic brain injury and concussion injury.
Advice for Potential Learners
Parker learned about the Training to Teach in Medicine program through an online announcement about the course but doubted that she would be accepted. “I was a longtime practitioner in a clinical subspecialty that many people don’t even know exists. I was convinced that Harvard would think I was an ‘outlier’ in the medical community and that the school wouldn’t embrace my unusual background. Well, I couldn’t have been more wrong.” She offered this advice to anyone hesitant about applying to the program: “If you don’t think you fit into Harvard’s mold, you’re mistaken. I’ve learned there is no such mold. It is the most all-embracing medical institution in the world. This journey has been warm, welcoming, and truly wonderful.”