Humility and Humanity , this phrase stuck with me from Dan ford’s talk. From medical school through residency it is drilled into us to be confident, un-phased, unemotional , these qualities are attributed to professionalism and success. Doctors are supposed to be infallible , so when we face an adverse outcome thats what we do instinctively. We become distant, listening to Helen, Sorrel and Dan thats the exact opposite of what patients need. Alienation only leads to prolongation of suffering for the patients family as well as the caregiver. Moving forward I hope to make these values a foundation of my practice.
Reading all the stories from my peers encouraged me to share as well, this was an amazing group of people and faculty. My first ICU night rotation as a PGY-2 I admitted a patient in DKA and septic shock, due to a glitch in the EMR the antibiotic order was set as default to AM. Unfortunately the patient expired within 4 hours of presentation to the ED. I was given a warning and bluntly told not to repeat this mistake , the incident left me shaken and depressed for a long time. The most frustrating part was the mistake was repeated by multiple residents fortunately non with major adverse outcome, but EMR glitch persists!
Any human system built on the expectation of continuous perfect human performance has HARD-WIRED FAILURE into structure.
I want to take everything I have learned during the last 4 days and educate my fellow residents, so hopefully I’ll have a few first followers or maybe even a movement!
Telluride is a stunning venue, I would love to visit again.