There’s no single label that fits Dr. Christine Park: an anesthesiologist, simulation leader, certified coach, entrepreneur, and, yes, ukulele fan. She’s led international organizations, helped define the Healthcare Simulationist Code of Ethics, and now helps others grow through her coaching and consulting practice. What makes her stand out? A rare mix of humor, honesty, and humanity that turns every challenge into an opportunity to learn, lead, and laugh along the way. She granted us this entertaining interview.
Trained at Yale and Harvard before settling in Chicago, she is a certified professional coach, working with individuals and groups at career turning points. She is a retired Professor of Anesthesiology and Medical Education at the University of Illinois College of Medicine, where she was Director of the Simulation and Integrative Learning Institute.
Hi Christine, thank you so much for agreeing to spend the next few minutes with us. SIM Face is one of our most popular columns. We try to get to know the people who have played and continue to play an important role in healthcare simulation. Thus, let’s talk about you right away. From Yale English Literature to anesthesia and simulation: was this a well-planned strategy or just a beautifully chaotic detour?
Looking back, most of my path was accidental, experimental or hunch-based. In college, I had a feeling that I might not make it as a literature professor, so I went to medical school. After several years as a resident in one specialty, I jumped to anesthesiology based on acknowledging that if I left my current specialty I would miss the parts of it that were fun, but as a distinction, I would not regret it. I remember the day this realization came to me like a bolt of lightning. It wasn’t evidence based at all but luckily it turned out to be about the truest thought I took action on. Not only was anesthesiology the perfect fit for my energy and temperament, I discovered simulation as an anesthesiology resident. The power and potential of simulation has nourished me throughout my entire career.
You wear many hats, doctor, coach, consultant, leader. Which hat feels most natural, and which one sometimes feels like a Halloween costume?
Being a coach and consultant is where I’m the most at ease. Part of this stems from being a child of immigrants, where I was always seen as foreign both in the US and in Korea. So I ended up being kind of bridge-like, spanning territories but not fully rooted in one. That required me to become observant of cultures and languages, to see what and how things are being said, what’s absent, what are unique patterns and similar ones. These skills work well to help people see things in new ways that then lead to discovering change. For me, the public image of a doctor feels like a costume, that physicians are somehow extra, more noble, things like that. I’ve told patients before, yes it’s true I can save lives. But if you asked me to drive a city bus, I’d crash or drive it off a bridge, so we are all life savers in our own ways.
You’ve been President of SSH, edited the Healthcare Simulationist Code of Ethics, and advised healthcare systems, don’t you ever miss being the one who can break the rules instead of writing them?
What a great philosophical question. When it comes to rules as a mechanism for conformity and status quo, I can be the “nail that sticks up.” One of my talents (or curses), is to wonder and challenge why and why not and what if and what else. So that makes me rather unlikely to support the norm just because it’s an accepted norm. It plays well to my strengths as a consultant and coach, because in those situations, people actively want to get out of a rut. It’s one of the things I value most ~ the beauty and power of many minds coming together to think deeply and to create something together. This is what is so special about the Code of Ethics; not that they are rules, but that they represent the collective aspirations of healthcare simulationist professionals.
We read that you are a fan of stand-up comedy. Be honest: what scares you more, conducting a difficult debriefing or performing in a stand-up comedy show?
Hands down it’s stand-up. Something that debriefing and stand-up have in common is creating a safe container for discovery. In debriefing it’s not about me, so I can rely on curiosity about others and tossing the ball with questions like “what do YOU think about that?” In performing stand-up there’s no safety net plus it’s not interactive unless the audience laughs. One of the best ways to connect is let your most awkward weird self-show, because the goal isn’t to impress, it’s to allow the audience to relate to their own awkward weird self. Which reminds me of another thing debriefing and stand-up have in common: being OK with silence. In debriefing in can be a sign of a great question, but in stand-up it means you’re completely bombing… All of that is scary, but it isn’t dangerous, so it’s exhilarating being in beginner’s mind in such a visible way.
Another interesting discovery is that you play the ukulele. How did this passion come about? And tell us the truth, has your ukulele ever helped you survive a tough conference dinner or an awkward faculty retreat?
My ukulele skills are so lacking right now that I’m sure no one would find it any more soothing than a child learning to play a recorder. I started ukulele as a way to get back into music but with a new instrument that I’d be able to travel with. Thanks to guidance from a former anesthesia mentee who is also professional level musician, I bought a luthier-built Ko’Olau tenor ukulele from Hawaii. Just playing the open strings makes you feel the love and skill that went into its making. And yes, it would be completely fair for you to ask why I’d get an instrument that so far exceeds my skills. One of these days, I hope to be able to play and sing along with a group of friends on a clear summer night under the stars. That’s my dream.
Starting your own company takes guts. What convinced you that the world needed Christine Park Coaching, and not just “another leadership consultant”?
As a coach, I partner with people, especially from the healthcare sector, to optimize their career trajectory. That includes growth and transitions, and one thing that many of us secretly crave, recovery from workism. Society over-glorifies the notion of grinding. And we invest so much in a thing called “legacy,” which is about being acknowledged as important but which is fundamentally about a simple human desire to be seen. No one needs to grind to be seen. My journey to coaching has its roots in a book I read 15 years ago called “Do Less, Achieve More.” It helped set in motion a little rolling stone that brought me to where I am today. Today, if I wrote a book, I’d think of it more as “Do Less, Be More.” It means choosing to do less “scut work” in favor of more creativity, less attachment, and with more energy for focused hard work.
Let’s return to the topic of simulation. What is a dogma in healthcare simulation that you would like people to finally abandon?
I’m going to be writing more about this, but here is a teaser. Something about the (not universal) concept that clinicians should create simulation cases using their own experiences has been troubling. Yes, it has a certain credibility, but as in cinema, not every movie must be a documentary. These “documentary scenarios” often include dramatic or eccentric details that can feel, well, autobiographical. What eventually comes out in discussion with the case writer is passionate emotion that in their past, this exact same thing happened to them, and they want the learners to learn a lesson in this “safe environment” before they kill a patient. I wonder if an important piece of what’s happening then is that they’re processing past traumas through the simulation. More to come on this.
How do you see healthcare simulation in 10 years?
One thing I really hope for in simulation is building more opportunities for true practice. Simulation often looks more to me like dress rehearsal. Learners typically have an entire encounter with multiple moving parts and objectives, and afterwards receive feedback or debriefing on the entire encounter, then move to the next case. In reality, actual practice also involves repeating one small part over and over, trying it one way and another, changing your mind, finding what works. Real coordination of multiple skills in context only occurs after many of the bits are practiced in isolation. Professional actors or musicians don’t rehearse an entire play or even an entire scene from the jump. While I was at UIC, Bob Kiser and I created an experience called “Rehearsal for Authenticity” that invites just such experimentation and play, and the students consistently say that it’s the most authentic experience they have in sim.
What’s one simulation trend you secretly think is overrated… but everyone’s too polite to say it out loud?
There is great potential in leveraging Artificial Intelligence, but there is danger if in our excitement, we lose sight of where a manual, human process has value. Yes it’s appealing that AI can save time, money and replace human labor. Why spend hours writing a simulation a case, when ChatGPT can deliver what looks like similar product in 15 seconds? Why train people to do assessments, when AI can do it faster and uniformly? But let’s consider that there is deep value in slow human processes. It’s a much older technology, but studies show that writing by hand results in much greater brain activity and connectivity compared to typing. Let’s consider that AI is not a solution to bias; in fact, it is only as good as the biased data it receives. My hope is that we will leverage AI to enhance, not replace, the quality of human effort.
Before ending, let’s talk about future generations of simulationists. What’s one piece of advice you’d give to young simulationists that you’d never admit to in a keynote speech?
One thing I’ve never shared before as actual advice is the suggestion to consider time to pause if you can. About 15-ish years ago, a young clinical department chair died suddenly and their brilliant career cut short was deservedly mourned. Another tragedy was that they had been experiencing chest pain with a family history of heart disease. But they, given their honorable dedication to work and as so many of us would, prioritized the immediacy of work demands. So I decided to spend a couple years working at half time. In exchange for some lines on my cv, I slept well, read, deepened relationships, and gained a sense of identity that’s not derived from work. So if you asked me what was the best professional decision in my life, aside from my most recent decision to switch gears, I’d say it was this.
And now it’s time for our irreverent question (hoping that the previous ones weren’t). Considering that simulation consists of creating safe spaces where you can fail, when was the last time you failed spectacularly at something?
The most recent spectacular fail was a kimchi effort. During the pandemic, lots of people made sourdough bread. I did the much less viral but equally satisfying kimchi making. It’s one of those things that you can’t follow an exact recipe. My mother gave me directions like “after rinsing, the cabbage leaves should taste just a tiny bit too salty.” Anyway, those first efforts turned out really well. Fast forward to current day, the last few efforts haven’t gone so well. Most recently, I tried again, used a good salt, chopped and grated fresh ingredients. When the kimchi went into the jar it smelled great, and usually that means it’s on its way to success. Three days later, it wasn’t bad as in spoiled. It was just weird. Two weeks later it’s still weird, maybe a bit of a metallic taste. Anyone out there with experience, please reach out!
Thank you, Christine, for sharing your stories and reflections with us: it’s been such a pleasure! Your mix of wisdom, humor, and curiosity reminds us that simulation is as much about people as it is about practice. Have a wonderful day! And to our dear SIMZINErs, stay tuned for more inspiring, surprising, and slightly mischievous stories in the next SIM Face interview.
READ ALSO
