I was asked to reflect and understand why I came to Telluride. This experience, while a great honor, took a lot of planning. Hearing opinions from prior alumni, composing a personal statement, obtaining leave from residency duties, planning the trip… Of course the opportunity to be exposed to such great lectures, experiences, and atmosphere speaks for itself and I am so grateful to be a part of this conference. But I also realize that the why I wanted to come here is the what I wanted to bring back.
I teach many of the patient safety education series to my emergency medicine residency program. Not only have I witnessed my fellow residents tune out, answer text messages or close their eyes, but they have also bluntly told me that the lecture was a ‘waste of time’ or ‘boring.’ While I hope this doesn’t reflect my teaching and engagement skills, I feel that this is a culture of the age we are in- young physicians requiring constant stimulation that, when not provided, feel that their time is far too valuable to be spent on mindfulness.
My goal for this conference is to learn how to INSPIRE. I hope to bring back innovative skills to incorporate within my lectures as well as new topics to teach. This way I hope to inspire a patient centered culture. I want my fellow residents to want to hear these talks rather than feel forced to sit through them.
