AUSTIN — Teachers don't make very much money, Alisha Thomas' mother warned her growing up.
So Thomas, an Austin native enamored with math and science, decided to go to medical school, graduating from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in 2005.
But the family physician couldn't stay away from her dream of teaching: Earlier this month, she accepted an award as the Family Medicine Teacher of the Year from the Illinois Academy of Family Physicians.
"I kept thinking, 'Could this be a mistake? Was I the only one that applied? How could this happen?'" laughed Thomas, a Whitney Young Magnet High School graduate. "The shock gave way to a feeling of thankfulness. I wouldn't have thought my style of teaching was much better than anyone else's. The fact that students thought that [it] was something meaningful ... was really gratifying."
Kyla Gardner says Thomas volunteers to help others in the community:
Thomas, 35, oversees medical school residents and performs outreach for PCC Austin Family Health Center, 5425 W. Lake St. She also helped launch a pilot program called Education-Centered Medical Home at Northwestern, in which students work with the same teacher and group of peers once every other week throughout their four years of med school.
To craft her style of teaching at Northwestern, Thomas thought back to her own experience as a medical student.
"I remember always feeling like I was under a microscope. It was a very nerve-wracking experience," she said. "I think this is part of medical school culture, that there's not always the room to just learn, to soak up knowledge. ... A lot of people, maybe subconsciously, would feel like, 'If I make a mistake, if I ask a question that's not deemed to be intelligent enough, that that could hinder my evaluations.'"
So Thomas tries to let her students know that there are no dumb questions.
"When I started teaching other students, I really wanted them to have the space to just learn without always feeling the pressure," she said. "I try to make it clear to them, 'Let's just learn, so that you can grow as a professional.'"
Alyssa Jeanne Vest, PCC Austin's medical director, said Thomas' students are choosing to specialize in family medicine because of her.
"Alisha is a natural teacher," Vest said in a statement. "She is always able to make teachable moments happen during the patient encounter, which makes it memorable to all students involved in the patient’s care.”
Even though Thomas, who now lives in Evanston, took a winding path toward becoming a teacher, the philosophy behind her all work has always been the same.
"Especially in primary care settings, there’s so many different time pressures and financial pressures that really limit the patient-doctor interaction, even in terms of having to limit the appointment times," Thomas said.
So when her patients come to her with worries and stress, just as her medical students do, Thomas knows how to take the pressure off.
"It's similar when I interact with patients," she said. "I think they sense that they'll have a chance to be heard."
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