Idaho WWAMI is thrilled to celebrate Kevin Glover, MD, a resident physician at Kootenai Health, as the recipient of the 2024–2025 Family Medicine Faculty Professionalism Award. A WWAMI student nominated Dr. Glover for the award, highlighting his ability to prioritize both learning and compassionate patient care.
In 2023, Dr. Glover graduated from the UW School of Medicine Spokane and later moved to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho because of the excellent full-spectrum family medicine training at Kootenai Health Family Medicine Residency.
He said the recognition came as a joyful surprise. He shared how meaningful the award felt, especially because he once nominated his own mentor, Dr. John Merill-Steskall, for the same honor.
“He set a high bar for me in terms of a family physician’s intellect, community engagement and professionalism,” Dr. Glover said. “I really enjoy teaching and try to be attentive to the particular goals of the learner, and it’s nice to hear that it was well received.”
Dr. Glover said professionalism is a mindset rooted in humility and patient-centeredness.
“It means trying to remember that I am not the main character. The patient and their family are central, and I try to frame my communication around that,” he said.
He added that focusing on the patient can help ease the stress medical students feel during rounds.
“People get in communication trouble when they are juggling too many cognitive tasks, including self-awareness,” Dr. Glover added. “Being present with the person in front of you is key.”
Creating an environment where medical students feel supported, encouraged and challenged is equally essential to his teaching philosophy.
“The thing that I most hope learners take from working with me is the feeling of being welcomed, valued as an individual and pushed to grow,” he said.
Dr. Glover believes cultivating a culture of psychological safety makes medical teams safer and more effective.
“I’d like to think that emphasizing psychological safety will have a ripple effect when today’s students are tomorrow’s teachers.”
Through his example, Dr. Glover continues to strengthen Idaho WWAMI and the family medicine community, one student at a time.