By Fiona Campbell (Medical Student at the University of Calgary)
It was refreshing to hear all of the insightful closing comments from all of the Telluride East participants today, and exciting to hear what we all plan to work towards as we return to our schools. It’s easy to see why we would all come away with such momentum and inspiration. This week was full of eye-opening discussions and thought-provoking workshops. It’s easy to feel empowered by everyone with a shared passion, and to think that we really can make healthcare better around the world.
But it’s also easy to succumb to real life and let that momentum fizzle away. It’s easy to forget how important patient safety is when you’re once again surrounded by leaders who don’t value it. It’s easy to get caught up in all of the knowledge we are expected to learn at school and forget about pursuing initiatives that will improve the system.
I’m still in the newlywed zone and every day I am reminded of the vows that I spoke one short week ago. They weren’t ground breaking, but by speaking them out loud in front of so many loved ones, it helps me hold myself accountable to following them. Today, we all vowed to each other to take what we’ve learned here, bring it back to our institutions and create something from it. Let’s not let life get in the way of accomplishing what we promised to do, and let’s hold each other accountable for making change. But as Dr. Mayer pointed out, some is not a number and soon is not a time – we need to think in realistic milestones in order to hope to accomplish anything. So let’s create more specific goals for ourselves and share our successes and shortcomings along the way.
My first step will be to do a patient safety project with the Human Factors group at the University of Calgary. I will start by defining the scope of the project this month and come up with a manageable deliverable to be completed before I start Clerkship in March. I’ll come back to this blog at least twice along the way to share my progress and get inspiration. Thank you to all of the Telluride East participants and faculty for the knowledge, motivation, and support to work on making healthcare safer one project at a time.
Hope everyone has a safe drive home from the airport!