Shadowing Practice: Why the CPC Method Changes How You Learn Medicine (And Why Memorization Fails) - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
1
I think that med school is harder for your generation than it was for mine but not for the reason that you think you think it's because you've got a lot more to learn and all of the molecular
2
well that's not right because what you've got to understand is with all that molecular comes greater understanding so that you can actually tell a more complete story than we did so while there's more to learn
3
it's a better story and easier to remember so the reason it's harder is not that in my opinion it's harder because you guys are learning from the desk
4
and not from patients and autopsy rooms so let's talk about what that means if we go way back to the beginning of modern medicine so we're talking William Osler he said this shocking idea
5
and it makes you laugh to hear it he said that the reason your patient has the symptoms and the signs that you find is because it correlates with abnormalities in their bodies
6
and that is a whole multiple generations of ideas called clinical pathological correlation I mean it seems laughable now doesn't it but it's actually a profound idea
7
I'm Doctor Philip Tisdale I practice medicine for over four decades I've been teaching for over 10 years every system in my book starts with the chapter labeled
8
Clinical Pathological Correlation you're gonna want that book to be able to follow along so click the link in the description one of the benefits of my extreme old age is that I go way back into parts of history
9
that really just aren't talked about anymore and it's hard to believe that medicine is so much better now doesn't mean that today's doctors are better doctors it means that they have better tools
10
but if you go back to my day I started before there was widespread CT scanning and MRI physicians simply had to be better at physical exam the challenge that they faced was
11
they had these very insensitive and non specific tools like the stethoscope and palpation and so lots of times they literally didn't know what was going on
12
and because of that quality in medicine was based on autopsy findings when I first came out in practice in early 1980s over 50% of hospital deaths would have an autopsy
13
so my life as a young practicing pathologist was to come in each day and see who had died and then call medicine and surgery teams and say to them when did you want to do the autopsy
14
can you imagine that experience this was a patient you might have cared for for years and now despite all of your best attempts they had died I mean it's clearly failure
15
and it was obviously very upsetting because now you're coming down to the corpse of someone you might have known for decades
16
and you had to understand was there anything we could have done better and so I would be there with their patient and they I would say did you have any questions and you know someone would say you know
17
I never knew what that lump was in the right lower quadrant we had no imaging
18
and so we would open the abdomen and I would go in and I'd say well it's a 3 centimeter abscess
19
and everyone go well that explains it and I wish I'd known because then we could have drained it
20
it was such a profound idea and our tools were so limited back in my early practice days that somewhere between a third and a half of all autopsies would find significant
21
enough abnormalities that were missed that it would have altered patient outcomes
22
and so everyone in my generation has this very deep relationship with this idea that you're patient has underlying pathology that you personally have to discover
23
and the way we would communicate that was what we would call morbidity and mortality rounds and of course quickly it became slang to death rounds but this was the most important intellectual event
24
in our hospital the doors were locked no one was allowed in but the doctors and the pathologist would discover what he found and the attending physicians would criticize each other
25
for should they have found it was it knowable would it have changed things these were deep very personal events and we were all very close because we trusted each other with this idea
26
of clinical correlated to pathology
27
the other thing that it did was it developed this idea that you started with a patient who had a disease time frame and there was a really deep idea that was called
28
natural history and it meant what happens if we did nothing and all of us would know this because by large we didn't have a lot of tools I mean we had some antibiotics
29
a few handful of cardiac drugs but really most of what we saw was natural history absolutely true in cancer and so because we had so few treatments and they were so toxic everyone would understand
30
if you didn't know natural history what happens if we do nothing you wouldn't know whether it was worthwhile doing your treatment or not every treatment has side effects so every treatment is a risk benefit calculus
31
now we have such marvelous treatments you don't intuitively think of it trust me 50 years ago we all thought of it and so you can see as I came to teach and everything was broken into these small
32
little domains of small subject based experts I grew increasingly frustrated that students were lacking this totality they were lacking two fundamental ideas that all of us knew from experience
33
the first was all of your patient complaints correlated to something underlying in pathology the tool you used to discover it was really a trade off of sensitivity and specificity
34
but not the idea it's not magic wand where a report comes out of imaging and gives you the answer it seems like magic but for those of us of our generation
35
it's merely a better tool and the second idea is natural history I had to actually write a whole chapter on chronic progressive disease Chapter 3
36
because it's not intuitive to your generation that you start with a well person and they go through this disease progression of homeostasis adaptation
37
then intermittent failure and then permanent failure I actually wrote a whole chapter on it because it's not intuitive if everyone's parceled into their specialty domain and only answers a specific problem in the patient
38
so the more I taught the more I realized the problem that we had with two things first of all the first two years were taught by Phds
39
it's not that there's anything wrong with a PhD but they are by definition subject based experts they can't tell you why you're learning that my generation they were useful
40
but we were overall taught by practicing MDs so when we were taught their physiology it was the physiology they used in patient care and then the second was
41
there wasn't this deep understanding of clinical pathological correlation and the natural history of disease
42
and so as I used all the resources I just became increasingly frustrated
43
and it's obviously frustrating with the teaching system all of you know that right I come into a group to teach a course and I always start with heart who doesn't love a panda and I always start with this
44
a patient walks in the door and they have shortness of breath go
45
and it's a uniform response from our medical students they give me this look that says you mean I've been studying my guts out for two years you've asked a perfectly fair question
46
and I have no idea how to answer it and I go that's right because it's clinical pathological correlation
47
the patient has shortness of breath why don't you walk me through the organs and the diseases and the subdiseases all the way to a specific diagnosis and once you've done that
48
why don't you tell me where in the patient's natural history are we
49
as I'm now coming out on social media I have to sort of conform to the needs and wants of social media and one of them is you have to capture an idea so that you don't have to keep explaining it
50
and so you can imagine over the past 10 years the frustration I've had trying to explain this idea of clinical pathological correlation to today's doctors who have never seen an autopsy
51
by the way our autopsies we did them in little hospitals half of all hospital deaths when I came out but over my career so I start like 1980 two ish by 1996 we closed our morgues
52
the widespread CT scanning MRI universal fantastic chemistry wonderful microbiology the autopsy really
53
wasn't revealing surprises anymore you know you'll hear conventional old time pathologist say oh yeah yeah we need autopsies they're great truth is they're really not like back in my day they those were revelatory
54
and so with the advent of AIDS and the need to have sort of level 4 virus prevention systems it all went away not the need for this idea of clinical
55
pathological correlation not this idea of natural history of disease but the way we did it and so the problem we have now is there are no autopsies most of you have never even seen one
56
we don't all get together by our patients and say what did you think was happening and then go look so this really cohesive culture practicing physicians had
57
that always came back to morbidity and mortality rounds that's all gone most modern day doctors don't practice in the hospital
58
and so with that we've lost it in our teaching the idea hasn't gone has it
59
and so you can see I'm the lonely voice in the wilderness looking wandering around trying to explain you've got to think and teach disease as clinical pathological correlation across a time frame called natural history
60
I have to explain it and no one understands it because they've never experienced it so here we are I'm staking my ground and I'm calling this way of learning the right way to learn medicine
61
you start with a patient and you have to know where in their disease path they are and know that their symptoms in your signs relate to the underlying pathology and that's an ancient
62
old term that I'm re bringing back to life and I'm calling it clinical pathological correlation this is the CPC way of learning it's just been so badly fragmented we've forgotten it
63
but it's the right way to learn medicine clinical pathological correlation why does your patient have a gurgle why are they short of breath what are you feeling there
64
well if you do a test what specific part of the pathology you're looking for testing teaches pathophysiology CPC clinical pathological correlation applied over the time frame of natural history
65
it is the right way to learn medicine I've been doing this increasingly more specifically for the past 10 years
66
and I'm telling you it's the right way to get ready for exams and it's certainly the right way to get ready for patient care okay so pretty attractive when I say CPC is the right way to get ready for exams you know the clerkship
67
you'll solve that problem when you get there right now you've got to solve the problem of exams let's talk about the step exams you know no one but the step people are there to talk about the questions
68
but you know I've taught a lot of you and a small portion of you call me after the exam that I've specifically taught you for just to talk about how my teaching went I never ask about specific questions wouldn't remotely help you
69
there's a gazillion of them but I can promise you this the spirit of the Step 1 exam is this clinical medicine is built on a foundation of basic
70
medical sciences what does that mean it means they're starting with a patient clinical medicine and they expect you to say why
71
so if you're short of breath why are you short of breath and congestive heart failure it's because you have pulmonary edema that gives you a diffusion defect and it gives you a VQ mismatch
72
I guess we're pretty deep in the weeds of basic sciences aren't we they're going to ask you questions in such a way that they don't want to know that you've memorized them they want you to know why do they work
73
here's an example so let's just do lung I'm teaching some students lung now happens to be at the institution I'm at so these are count last week I did this this is completely true I offered this course for these 200 students
74
I'm gonna show you how you need to know histology to understand lung disease if you come and listen this lecture your whole course will make great sense to you and out of 200 students I got two
75
well two is enough for me I love teaching and so I went through talking about why do you think that's true and you could see them slowly start to internalize this idea
76
why when you have emphysema do you breathe like this
77
slow and with pursed lips do you have a mental image of the structure underlying that because they all do that's a basic science mental image of lung and its pathology correlating specifically to that patient
78
so those two students are gonna have a really happy course but I promise you everyone else will go to first Aid and U World and they'll plug away going this is unpleasant I wish I could see patients well
79
I'm gonna start you with your shorter breath when you read the stem in your questions you'll go I can feel the mind of the examiner she's talking to me she's saying
80
I have a patient coming in and they breathe like this
81
what do you think happens in their lungs that is the spirit of the exam clinical medicines built on a foundation of basic medical sciences and it's a really easy way to study
82
you just keep asking why am I learning this and so true story I was teaching with this preeminent immunology microbiology educator and you know we were really close friends we taught all over the world together
83
and she was staying at my house and we were sort of going through our curriculum of joining each other she went into this long complex discussion of immunology I'm sure you've been through many of them and I looked at her and said
84
you know I'm just not gonna learn that and she was shocked
85
I mean I'm the expert you have to know something you know it just looks like a lot of work and I I just don't see the benefit of it and she will tell you that was when her whole teaching philosophy changed
86
20 years she's been teaching this right and she suddenly went oh my goodness I'm teaching doctors not immunology microbiology and so she coined this phrase we use it all the time and it's perfectly true
87
hashtag make me care
88
so as you're studying hashtag make me care ask yourself how does this make me understand my patient better clinical pathological correlation
89
and I promise you that is the spirit of Step 1 exam and for all the tension and high stakes you kind of start enjoying your questions more so as you can tell I I've done lots of different teaching
90
I've taught classic medical schools in the Caribbean I've done pure step on prep for many years and now I'm actually with a traditional medical school and they are teaching exactly the way I was
91
back in 1972 they start with a little introduction and then they go straight to subjects right I mean you've done it right it's anatomy histology physiology
92
microbiology that's their first year and then they come to second year where they're supposed to do the clinical integration of that and then they go to clerkship got it we all do that the other variant that you see in this
93
might be your school is we do it by system so we're gonna do cardiovascular pulmonary renal but if you go take a look at how those system based are done
94
they took each chapter from the subject and put it into that organ in other words you still have whoever did the PhD of lung physiology in the physiology course
95
just takes his lung physiology and does it in lung it's still fragmented by subject based experts and this is how you can tell when you get that clinical person
96
coming in to talk about lung disease does she teach the physiology because if she doesn't you know what you're saying well thanks PhD but my clinician didn't need it
97
so this is just for exam if you as a practicing physician don't need that basic sciences then you don't need it so don't teach it there's a lot to learn
98
well you can imagine my increasing frustration right I'm using these physiology books and I go hashtag make me care I don't I've spoken to lots of pulmonologists they just don't need it
99
they memorize what they had to for their exams and then dropped it they do what they do in practice all you're gonna get from me in clin path correlation in each system is what you have to be able to do
100
to understand disease and its treatment every time you're studying hashtag make me care but make me care is what practicing doctors do that's a clinical subject and it doesn't exist
101
so I had to write the book and look at its title what else could I call it right it's clinical pathophysiology hashtag make me care
102
clinical medicine is built on basic sciences every system starts CPC and then goes to structure function because we start with the patient it's patient centered learning
103
if you haven't already be sure to subscribe each week I'm gonna be doing a new podcast and we're going from these basic discussions to more specific things like test
104
step prep how we use testing to teach path of fizz I'm gonna be talking to former students I'm gonna be talking to the very small handful of educators who have moved over to the CPC style of teaching
105
what that feels like and how their experience in teaching who has been so I hope you'll tune in if you like this video
106
my previous video was on the idea of completeness see you next time
✨ Recommend Video
C12
188 sentences
I wish I'd learned this mental exercise in medical school
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C189
50 sentences
Psychology of Intelligence: Learn Faster Than Everyone Around You
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C1117 sentences
Anatomy & Physiology: The Ultimate Beginner's Guide | Dr. Bee's Tutorials
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C11
710 sentences
The truth about peptides, NAD, & other longevity treatments | Rachele Pojednic, Ph.D.
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B25
16 sentences
Behind the scenes: Medical Laboratory Scientist
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C12
254 sentences
Meet the Masters: 2026 Spine Endoscopy Masterclass Talk
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C11
157 sentences
How To Become Dangerously Self-Educated (Complete Plan)
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
B21
61 sentences
What is Public Health??
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C15
21 sentences
Anthroposophic Medical Training Part 1
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C12
51 sentences
How to do ACTIVE RECALL Effectively? (4 Techniques worked for me)
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C13
208 sentences
AI & Education: Generative AI & the Future of Critical Thinking
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
C1216 sentences
Life Lessons from A Heart Surgeon - U of T Research Showcase 2026
Business EnglishUniversity StudentsWorking Adults
About This Lesson
This lesson focuses on the concepts discussed in the video "Why the CPC Method Changes How You Learn Medicine (And Why Memorization Fails)." Learners will practice essential listening and speaking skills by engaging with the content that emphasizes the importance of clinical pathological correlation and natural history in medicine. By taking part in this lesson, you'll enhance your understanding of key medical terminology while improving your English pronunciation through shadowing techniques.
Key Vocabulary & Phrases
- Clinical Pathological Correlation: Understanding the relationship between clinical symptoms and underlying medical conditions.
- Natural History: The progression of a disease over time without any intervention.
- Morbidity and Mortality Rounds: Meetings where medical professionals discuss patient outcomes and learn from clinical cases.
- Physical Exam: The process of examining a patient to gather clinical information.
- Pathology: The study of the causes and effects of diseases, often through examining tissues.
- Imaging: Techniques like CT scans and MRIs used to visualize internal structures of the body.
- Autopsy: The examination of a body after death to determine the cause of death or disease.
- Patient Outcomes: The end results of medical treatment and care for a patient.
Practice Tips
To make the most of this lesson, utilize a shadowing app that allows you to listen and repeat after the speaker in real-time. Pay close attention to the speed and tone of the video; the speaker maintains a thoughtful and reflective pace. This slower rhythm is beneficial for learners seeking to improve English pronunciation while mastering medical terminology. Use the shadowing technique by pausing the video after each significant point or phrase, repeating it aloud, and mimicking the speaker's tone and inflection.
As you practice, focus on articulating the key vocabulary clearly. Consider recording yourself to assess your pronunciation and intonation, which will help you identify areas for improvement. Engaging with the material actively will aid retention and deepen your understanding, making the medicine-related discussion easier to incorporate into your vocabulary.
Finally, don't hesitate to revisit challenging sections, repeating them as many times as necessary. The more you expose yourself to "shadowspeak," or the way experts discuss their fields, the more comfortable you’ll become with the language and its nuances.
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect continuous have/has been + -ing — an action that started earlier and is still going on | I've been teaching · I've been studying · I've been doing |
| Conditional sentences if + clause, will/would + verb — a condition and its result | if we do nothing you wouldn't know |
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | have found · you've asked · you've done |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | aren't talked · was based · were missed |
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.