I am Dr. Akshata Naik, a budding academician! I teach physiology (how the body functions!) to first- and second-year medical students. I am a passionate educator and have had the privilege of teaching undergraduate, graduate, and medical students for over nine years.
I’m committed to continually improving my teaching methods, and I strive to achieve innovative, evidence-based teaching practices. I recently implemented H5P teaching technology guided by the “Backward Design” framework in my virtual asynchronous lectures. Leveraging teaching tools like H5P allowed me to enhance student engagement and interaction in my asynchronous sessions, making learning not just informative but also enjoyable.
One of my most rewarding experiences as an educator is where I co-created a conceptual framework for the horizontal integration of basic medical sciences. This is my most sought after work yet that has led to many invited seminars and workshops nationally and internationally. It has sparked enriched discussions among several passionate educators.
My research endeavors also involve improving physician-patient communication and understanding psychophysiological parameter changes in different educational settings. I am actively exploring asset-based approaches to better describe patients and assess their outcomes, to inform physicians' understanding of their patients. Additionally, through quantitative psychophysiological measures, I hope to inform educators about enhancing the effectiveness of teaching practices.
Overall, I have a penchant for scientific communication, whether it is educating a classroom of students, presenting at conferences, brainstorming with peers, or distilling scientific information for non-scientists! I’m always excited to collaborate with fellow educators and organizations who share my enthusiasm for science education.
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Beyond my teaching and scholarly endeavors, you can book me for speaking engagements or writing science blogs.
Sharing my journey...
In 2013, I hiked Angels Landing at Zion National Park. I felt accomplished after reaching the summit!
Until I joined my graduate program in 2014. The emotional and mental demands were overwhelming at times, initially marked by struggles with an abusive mentor (which I escaped!) and later balancing graduate work with raising infants. Imagine navigating all this as an international student. Phew!
Despite these challenges, I persevered, unknowingly shaping the person I would become.
Later on in my postdoc, I found benchwork to be mundane and unenjoyable. So I steered clear of academia and opted for a role in the medical writing industry. But my drive for creativity and innovation brought me back to the ivory tower, this time as an educator.
My career has not been a straight path! I have gone from earning a Ph.D. to working in science communication and eventually settling down in a medical educator role (which I love!).
My goal is to share the strategies that helped shape my career path with as many graduate students, PhDs, and postdocs as possible.
Perhaps, these live in the paradox of being cliche and yet, unique to my journey (only!). However, I truly believe in the power of repetition of words to keep one’s spirit alive.
My goal is to share the strategies that helped shape my career path with as many graduate students, PhDs, and postdocs as possible.
Perhaps, these live in the paradox of being cliche and yet, unique to my journey (only!). However, I truly believe in the power of repetition of words to keep one’s spirit alive.
So, how about you hear it from me, at least once?
Email me: [email protected]
Email me: [email protected]
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