This quote from Joe Maddon really stood out to me and really set the tone for Day 2 in my mind. I feel that everything that we’ve discussed so far at this conference is stuff every medical student, resident, and attending knows in the back of their mind, just like how every baseball player knows how to field a ground ball. But we forget sometimes that you cannot do something complex unless you successfully do the simple thing. In keeping with the baseball theme, you cannot successfully turn a double play unless the shortstop gets his glove on the ground, squares up with ball, and cleanly gets it from his glove to his throwing hand. Us doctors and nurses couldn’t even begin to deal with the whole complexity of the medical “system” until we can first do all the simple things.
I think that this conference is such a great thing because its taking something that we’ve learned and done so many times and just making us think about it again. We know the requirements for informed consent and we know the phrase “do no harm” and thats why this conference is so helpful. It reminds us why these systems are in place and forces us to be better as we return to our hospitals and universities. This conference reminds us of the simple things so that we can be better at the complex task of caring for our patients.