About

Dr. Susan W Lane, MD, is a Professor of Medicine at Stony Brook University. Her academic interests include communication, advocacy, and medical education curriculum design and assessment. Prior to medical school, she taught high school Biology and French, reflecting her enduring commitment to education. She spends much of her time directing the Stony Brook University Hospital Internal Medicine residency training program, the largest residency program in Suffolk County, which emphasizes developing physicians who provide compassionate, evidence-based medicine with a focus on communication, collaboration, and education. In addition to her clinical and educational roles, Dr. Lane serves on the board of directors for the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society and the Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine, organizations dedicated to excellence in patient care and medical education. She is a Master in the American College of Physicians (MACP), committed to advancing the art and science of medicine and serving as a teacher and mentor for the next generation of internal medicine physicians.

Research topics

• Medicine
• Pedagogy
• Virology
• Internal medicine
• Medical education
• Psychology
• Family medicine
• Gerontology
• Nursing

Selected publications

• Why Internal Medicine Program Directors Remain in Their Positions and Are Effective and Thrive: A Qualitative Study

  The American Journal of Medicine · 2021-09-27 · 4 citations

  articleOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Managing the Forgetful Patient

  Medical Clinics of North America · 2020-11-06 · 7 citations

  reviewSenior authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• AAIM Recommendations for the 2020-2021 Internal Medicine Residency Application Cycle in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

  The American Journal of Medicine · 2020 · 18 citations

  • Virology
  • Medicine
  • Internal medicine
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Using the Jigsaw Teaching Method to Enhance Internal Medicine Residents' Knowledge and Attitudes in Managing Geriatric Women's Health

  MedEdPORTAL · 2020 · 14 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  • Medical education
  • Medicine
  • Psychology

  Introduction: Although studies surveying internal medicine (IM) residency program directors identify geriatric women's health as an essential curriculum topic, there are limited published women's health curricula for IM residents. Our IM residency program performed a needs assessment, which revealed that the majority of residents were unsatisfied with our current curricula and most were not confident managing geriatric women's health. We developed and assessed a structured curriculum to improve IM residents' knowledge and confidence in addressing geriatric women's health. Methods: This 2-hour interactive workshop used the jigsaw teaching method (a cooperative learning strategy where peers deliver specific content in teams) to teach 84 categorical IM residents of all PGY levels about the diagnosis and management of menopause, osteoporosis, urinary incontinence, and abnormal uterine bleeding. Participants completed a pretest and immediate posttest to assess knowledge and confidence about the targeted topics. We compared baseline and postworkshop responses using chi-square and Wilcoxon signed rank tests. Results: < .0001). The majority were satisfied or very satisfied with the workshop (94%) and requested additional women's health education (92%). Discussion: Our results suggest that workshops using the jigsaw teaching method can effectively increase IM resident knowledge and confidence in managing geriatric women's health.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• A pilot study of interprofessional palliative care education of medical students in the UK and USA

  BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care · 2017-06-21 · 16 citations

  articleOpen access

  BACKGROUND: Educating medical students to care for patients at the end-of-life is increasingly recognised as an essential component of training. Traditionally, medical student programmes are run by doctors, but patient care is delivered by an interprofessional team. Our programmes in the UK and USA independently developed a teaching experience led by an interprofessional team of palliative care health professionals. OBJECTIVES: This study explores the palliative care health professionals' perceptions, regarding their unique role in medical student palliative care education. METHODS: This is the first study to ascertain views of an interprofessional team delivering palliative care education to medical students. Focus groups enable interaction between members of the group as well as the generation of consensus of comments among group members. RESULTS: Two major themes were identified: perceived benefits and value of the experience, and the challenges and lessons learnt from the experiences. CONCLUSIONS: Despite different structures and settings, this experiential learning in palliative care provided a rewarding interprofessional experience that has historically been difficult to achieve.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Proposed Performance-Based Metrics for the Future Funding of Graduate Medical Education: Starting the Conversation

  Academic Medicine · 2017-12-13 · 13 citations

  article

  Graduate medical education (GME) in the United States is financed by contributions from both federal and state entities that total over $15 billion annually. Within institutions, these funds are distributed with limited transparency to achieve ill-defined outcomes. To address this, the Institute of Medicine convened a committee on the governance and financing of GME to recommend finance reform that would promote a physician training system that meets society's current and future needs. The resulting report provided several recommendations regarding the oversight and mechanisms of GME funding, including implementation of performance-based GME payments, but did not provide specific details about the content and development of metrics for these payments. To initiate a national conversation about performance-based GME funding, the authors asked: What should GME be held accountable for in exchange for public funding? In answer to this question, the authors propose 17 potential performance-based metrics for GME funding that could inform future funding decisions. Eight of the metrics are described as exemplars to add context and to help readers obtain a deeper understanding of the inherent complexities of performance-based GME funding. The authors also describe considerations and precautions for metric implementation.

  PublisherDOI

• Teaching Patient Safety Using an Interprofessional Team-Based Learning Simulation Model in Residency Training

  MedEdPORTAL · 2016-05-27 · 12 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  INTRODUCTION: Teaching and learning patient safety require demonstration of competencies such as teamwork, communication skills, and recognition of systems error. This patient safety TBL simulation-training program was developed to fulfill core patient safety objectives outlined by the ACGME and ACGME Clinical Learning Environment Review Program. The goal of the program is to enhance patient safety and quality care concepts and facilitate hands-on teamwork skills and core attitudes towards patient safety. This program served as a mandatory part of the residency core curriculum. METHODS: It was delivered as a 3-hour workshop session during medicine resident orientation. The workshop included an introductory presentation, one TBL activity, and three 1-hour interprofessional simulated application cases using either high-fidelity mannequins or standardized patients. Following each application case activity, trainees participated in a postcase scenario debriefing moderated by faculty facilitators. RESULTS: A total of 76 trainees participated, and 20 interprofessional teams were created. An independent-samples t test revealed that the Group Readiness Assurance Test scores were significantly higher than the Individual Readiness Assurance Test scores. Although the Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Survey's Teamwork and Professional Identity subscale scores were higher postworkshop compared to preworkshop, the differences were not statistically significant. Over 90% of the participants agreed that the safety concepts they learned would likely improve the quality of care they provide to future patients. DISCUSSION: A simulation model centered on an interprofessional team can be used as an important training technique to teach health care professionals realistic, hands-on principles of patient safety.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Impact of a Home Hospice Visit Program on Third-Year Medical Students: A qualitative analysis of student reflections

  Journal of Palliative Care · 2015-03-01 · 15 citations

  article

  AIM: This study evaluates the impact of an interprofessional home hospice visit (HHV) on third-year medical students' attitudes toward, and understanding of, end-of-life care and the visit's effect on students' views of their emerging professional roles and identities. METHODS: All third-year medical students at Stony Brook School of Medicine in Stony Brook, New York, USA, participated in an HHV. A didactic session preceded the HHV. Subsequently, students were required to submit a piece of reflective writing detailing the impact of the visit. We conducted a qualitative analysis of a random sample drawn from the 467 submitted reflections. RESULTS: Six themes emerged from the student reflections: three were related to the students' direct observations during the HHV, and three were related to the reflective learning of the students based on their HHV experience. CONCLUSION: The qualitative analysis of the reflective writings showed that the students gained a deep appreciation of the human identity of hospice patients and a humanistic understanding of their own role as future physicians.

  PublisherDOI

• Diagnosis and Treatment of Obesity: A TBL Exercise for Third-Year Medical Students

  MedEdPORTAL · 2015-01-29 · 4 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Abstract Obesity is a multifactorial chronic disease associated with numerous common medical problems. Obese patients are at increased risk of mortality. Successful recognition and treatment of obesity should be a goal for all primary care providers. This 1-hour team-based learning (TBL) module is designed to teach third-year medical students how to screen for obesity and define it based on National Heart, Blood, and Lung Institute criteria. Students explain which diseases are associated with obesity and devise a treatment plan for obese patients. This TBL session provides third-year students with an active learning format for the evaluation and treatment of obesity. Students have indicated in written and verbal feedback that this module is highly effective in achieving its objectives when taught during an ambulatory medicine rotation.

  PublisherDOI

• Curricular Content of Internal Medicine Residency Programs: A Nationwide Report

  The American Journal of Medicine · 2014-08-25 · 11 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Wei-Hsin Lu

  Stony Brook School

  4 shared

• Kimberly A. Kranz

  Stony Brook School

  4 shared

• Patricia Ng

  4 shared

• Catherine Nicastri

  Stony Brook University

  4 shared

• Michael Kisielewski

  Society of General Internal Medicine

  4 shared

• Jennifer M. Hensley

  Stony Brook University Hospital

  4 shared

• Abby L. Spencer

  General Department of Preventive Medicine

  3 shared

• Lisa L. Willett

  University of Alabama at Birmingham

  3 shared

Education

• M.D.

  University of Connecticut School of Medicine

  1993

• M.D., Internal Medicine

  University of Rochester Medical Center

  1996

Awards & honors

• Master in the American College of Physicians (MACP)