By DoM Communications | Date published: February 4, 2026
Melissa Fischer Shares What Makes a Good Teacher in AAMC Publication
Melissa Fischer, MD, MEd, professor of medicine in the Division of General Internal Medicine, was among the four recipients of the AAMC’s 2025 Alpha Omega Alpha Robert J. Glaser Distinguished Teacher Award who shared what they believe makes a good teacher in a recent AAMC publication. According to Dr. Fischer, respect and taking an individual interest in each student are some of the essential aspects of teaching. She additionally recognizes the importance of learning from mistakes and adjusts her content based on student responses.
“When I was a young medicine clerkship director, I was all-in about learning portfolios: the self-reflection, the individual learning plans, the demonstrations of learning with self-evaluation, peer evaluation, and faculty evaluation. I was so excited about this, I dove into implementing it full-on,” said Dr. Fischer. “I realized I was asking people to do a lot of things that they weren’t prepared to do. I hadn’t done all the change management [instruction] around making sure people understood what the objectives were and what the needs were.”