Over the first two days, we learned a lot about the current problem in healthcare and why it’s so damaging to countless patients and their families. Today, we discussed some of the ways to fix those problems. After learning about how to practice mindfulness and reflection, event reviews/reporting, and open communication with families, I now feel more confident that I have the tools to create effective change in the clinical setting at a grassroots level. This training was quintessential in helping me understand what I can do at such an early position in my training.
Beyond this, the team-building we experienced on the hike really solidified the importance of working together with other like-minded colleagues on issues of patient safety. Although an individual working on improving themselves in a clinical setting is important, encouraging and training others to do so as well is the only way to turn patient safety into a movement rather than an isolated effort.
For my quality improvement/patient safety project, I am planning on working with the curriculum directors at my school to bring a session regarding patient safety and open clinical communication to the first-year class of medical students. As I develop this idea further over the coming weeks, I will take into account all that we have learned. I hope this will become a recurring session in medical schools across the nation–changing the face of healthcare begins with changing the training of young health professionals.