On Dec. 14th : Equine facilitated learning with internal medicine residents and medical students : an interview with Dr Nicole ARTZ, MD
During this session, Dr. Nicole Artz, creator of Monarch Equine Facilitated Learning, will share her experience in equine facilitated learning with medical students and internal medicine residents at UnityPoint, in Des Moines (IA)
Dr. Artz obtained her MD from the University of Missouri School of Medicine in 1999 and went on to complete a residency program in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at Loyola, just outside of Chicago, IL.
She started her career as a teaching attending working in the hospital setting where she became interested in providing more comprehensive care to adults with sickle cell disease. She accepted a job opportunity at the University of Chicago where she was able to start, direct, and later publish outcomes of a new multidisciplinary program for adults with sickle cell disease. These patients provided valuable lessons in non-judgment, the importance of setting and respecting boundaries, and giving others the benefit of the doubt.
Her patient’s debilitating pain and early deaths from their disease led her to pursue additional training in palliative care, and she subsequently became board certified in hospice and palliative medicine. She returned to Loyola to co-direct a new palliative care program, and while in Chicago, recalled her childhood love of horses and began taking riding lessons. She first became interested in equine facilitated learning after attending several workshops with Linda Kohanov, author, founder, and director of Eponaquest Worldwide. Each workshop was incredibly beneficial to her personal growth, relationships at work, and ability to connect more effectively with patients and families. She found herself reflecting on how these skills could benefit all physicians and other healthcare providers and made the decision to complete an apprenticeship program.
Nicole developed Monarch Equine Facilitated Learning in 2017 while working in Des Moines, IA and had the opportunity to develop a curriculum for medical students and internal medicine residents focused on building skills for personal growth and well-being and incorporating experiential learning with the horses. She partnered with researchers at Iowa State to publish outcomes from the first year of the program.
She has since moved to Kansas City, Missouri where she lives with her 6 horses, 3 dogs, 2 barn cats, 9 chickens, 4 goats, and 1 pot-belly pig who was not invited, but stays anyway. She is currently working in Palliative Medicine and is pursuing fellowship training in Integrative Medicine through the University of Arizona, Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine.
CONTACT :
Dr Nicole ARTZ
+1 773-841-1515