Chandrakanth Are, M.B.B.S., is among three UNMC faculty members who will receive Outstanding Teacher Awards at the April 24 faculty meeting.
- Name: Chandrakanth Are, M.B.B.S.
- Title: Vice chair, education; associate professor, surgical oncology; program director, general surgery residency.
- Joined UNMC: 2007
- Hometown: Hyderabad, India
What’s the greatest reward of being a teacher?
The privilege to nurture, influence and train the future generations of clinicians, scholars, academics and leaders.
Describe a moment in your career when you realized you had picked the right occupation.
I was around 5 when I decided that I would do exactly what my father, Dasaratha Naidu Are, did for a living. He was a general surgeon in a remote rural part of India and a well-respected role model for our town. He is held in high esteem and reverence even today, nearly two decades after his demise. In this remote town nearly 50 years ago, facilities and resources were scarce. He had to make do with what was available. As there were no trained anesthesiologists, he would double up as both an anesthesiologist and a surgeon, administering the anesthesia first and then scrubbing to perform the surgery. Seeing what he did firsthand from a young age, and how much people respected him, there was never a reason to waver in my career plans.
What are the biggest challenges you face as a teacher?
Financial constraints and cookie-cutter training. The current and rapidly evolving health care landscape is placing enormous financial pressures on everything we do. Education is not immune to that. In the era of standardization, metrics, objective assessments and academic regulations, it is easy to forget that each trainee is subjectively different in skills, talents and favored learning methods. While objective models are needed, it is essential that we recognize the uniqueness of each trainee, allow for subjective variations and nurture them to be their best.
How do you know when you’ve been successful?
Watching the career trajectories of our trainees and witnessing how much they have accomplished.
A few words about your department:
I am extremely proud of the educational accomplishments in our department under the leadership, guidance and support of David. W Mercer, M.D., Jon Thompson, M.D., and James Edney, M.D. These include:
- A unique, open surgical-skills training curriculum involving lightly embalmed cadavers.
- Our comprehensive skills training curriculum ranging from open skills to simulation.
- Our breadth of clinical rotations ranging from rural to international.
Congratulations Chandra on a well-deserved award!