I entered medical school thinking I am entering a highly ethical and moral profession. That idea changed very quickly as I progressed through my first year and learned about the dirty side of medicine. I learned about the vast prevalence of medical errors and continuous breaking of the Hippocratic oath, mainly due to arrogance, greed and deceitfulness. We have created such a mess that it seemed impossible to fix at this point. Impossible until I learned about the progress MedStar health has been able to accomplish under the principles of a High Reliability Organization (HRO). It is unbelievable how the simple things such as building a relationship with your healthcare team and having respect for one another and the patient can drastically improve care and safety. Ultimately, having a cultural change such as adopting a safety first attitude and getting people to see its benefits will be the driving force of the healthcare revolution.
