Alex Grieco is Assistant Professor of Biomedical Education and Anatomy, Assistant Professor of Radiology, and Special Assistant to the Vice Dean of Education in the College of Medicine. He teaches Parts 1, 2, and 3 of the Lead-Serve Inspire Medical Curriculum in large-group, small-group, and one-on-one settings to the entire medical student body; Concepts in Health, a small group discussion-based course for the undergraduate BMS Program, year 4, for 12 students last Fall; and the new course LGBT Health, a small group discussion-based course for undergraduates years 2-4, for a total of 11 students this Spring.
Alex received the Alumni Award for Distinguished Teaching in 2016 and has served on the Executive Council since then.
What’s the best advice about teaching you’ve ever received?
Enjoy what you are doing, forget the podium, microphone, and white coat — and teaching will be the most natural, joyous, and honorable thing you can ever do.
What book or article has shaped your work as a teacher?
Honestly, too numerous to count—certainly NOT limited to medical, psychology, or education texts. I would as readily cite Plato’s “The Cave” as “Squires’ Fundamentals of Radiology,” the first ever text in diagnostic imaging geared toward medical students.
What is your teaching philosophy in 8 words or fewer?
Meet and join your learners where they are!
Tell us about one of your favorite and most effective in-class activities or assignments. How do your students react?
Students taking the formal 4-week diagnostic radiology elective find themselves, within moments of our introductions, interpreting “images” by the likes of Homer, Degas, Monet, and Caravaggio. This is our way of making radiological physics tangible, natural, and relatable. All of forthcoming discussions (within our daily case conferences) are shaped and scaffolded by this opening opportunity for contribution, communication, and collaboration on our level playing field.
What tools or opportunities have you found most useful as you have developed your teaching?
Undoubtedly, the relationships with fellow educators and learners.
What is something your students would be surprised to learn about you?
I use as much of my theater training as I do my MRI fellowship training in my daily teaching activities!