Pulse Check with Dean Nelson
Pulse Check is Dean Lewis S. Nelson's monthly column exploring the ideas that shape medical education and academic health. Each month, we bridge rigorous thinking with real life—because that's how we actually learn.
Here, you'll find scholarly concepts like Gall's Law and Prospect Theory alongside insights from The Princess Bride, Wednesday, and Planes, Trains & Automobiles—where academic rigor meets human insight, where the serious meets the surprising. It's thought leadership for people who know that the best ideas stick when they are both substantive and memorable.
Whether you are navigating the learning curve, building partnerships, or pushing the boundaries of what academic medicine can be, these monthly conversations offer perspective, provocation, and occasionally, a useful framework for the work ahead.
Each monthly column includes two sections:
The Main Theme:
A scholarly concept or leadership principle explored through the lens of academic medicine—from the Dunning-Kruger effect to Gall's Law, from Prospect Theory to building partnerships.
The Antidote Corner:
Where pop culture meets wisdom. Recent examples: Inigo Montoya on professional introductions, Wednesday Addams on authenticity, The Pitt on mentorship, and what Planes, Trains & Automobiles teaches about gratitude.