A lightbulb: Today we discussed the importance of including patients at risk analysis meetings and as members of QI teams because they keep us honest. I couldn’t agree more and also realized today that there are things that happen and are said within the health care setting that I would have found appalling prior to entering medical school. But somewhere along the way (probably most profoundly during third year) I lost sense of this. Things I should find egregious I don’t. Here is where we absolutely need patients and members of the community to provide a reality check and put us back in touch with a perspective we can’t always access any more.
Helpful Advice from David Mayer as I begin applying to residency programs and want to find one in which I will continue to learn and be pushed around issues of patient safety and QI:
A) Ask the residency program two specific questions
1) Do you have a simulation center? [This will allow you to gain mastery of skills vs. just minimal competence.]
2) Can you show me your resident QI curriculum?
B) For the programs that are your most serious and realistic choices, arrange to spend a day before or after your actual interview rounding with a team. This will truly allow you to assess how they communicate.
Thanks Dave! Would very much appreciate additional advice from anyone else who has ideas on this topic!