Day 2 Reflections by Steven Paretlatko

Day 2 was eye opening! The Skolnik’s story introduced the concept of informed consent- an essential part of shared decision making. This stressed the importance of clear communication and patient involvement in medical decision making. It was fun to apply what we learned in group breakout sessions. The day shifted in focus and the talk by David Claussen peaked my interest. The talk dissected EMR systems and I learned that the rush to implementation and false advertising by vendors has led to many of the frustrations that surround use- particularly the lack of human factors engineering considerations which ultimately have led to significant patient safety issues. To close off the day it was insightful to hear John Nance speak of his experiences in patient safety and inspire future healthcare professionals to make a commitment to change the system!