Last month I told you I had been invited to speak to a group of medical students, and I was looking for your suggestions about what you'd want me to share with them.
I promised you, too, that I would report back to you about what I said, and how it was received... thus this post.
I'll begin by describing the purpose of the day. Called 1 Health | Day 1, it was a program to bring all the new graduate health and medical students at the University of Minnesota together into one place for the afternoon. A thousand or more students, from three different campuses (gotta love video!) divided into teams. But not teams like you might think.
They are (what their professors and mentors call) interprofessional teams. A medical (physician) student is teamed with a public health student, a nursing student, a dental student, a pharmacy student, allied health students and (this will surprise you) a veterinary medicine student - 12 students per team. Throughout the semester they will work together to develop skills like communications, their abilities to work in teams, their own senses of professional integrity and pulling all that together into moral communities. This was their first day.
Are you rubbing your eyes? Can you hardly believe what you are reading? Here's proof.
Why this approach? And why now? According to the leaders of the 1 Health program, it's because this is the approach that is required to take us into the next decade, to fix what ails the healthcare system in the United States. It's a recognition that today's system isn't working. And it's their attempt to create mutual trust among these students, and their abilities to collaborate with each other.
When they learn to collaborate, of course, we will all benefit. At least THEIR patients will.
It's a game-changer. And it all began last Friday at the University of Minnesota's Academic Health Center.
So what did lil-ol'-me have to do with it all?
I was an invited speaker. It was my assignment to speak to the students about the future of medicine from a patient's perspective - how I saw their worlds changing, and what patients would hope to find in their health and medical professionals of the future. That's one reason I asked you, my readers, to share your ideas.
The idea was for me to have an impact on the students.
What they had no way of knowing was the impact the day would have on me.
Switching gears - bear with me....
It was six years ago today that I received confirmation of my misdiagnosis from the National Cancer Center (at the NIH.) It came in the form of a fax at about 11 in the morning - and I got my life back. As many readers know, it was that horrible odyssey that led me to my patient empowerment work.
One of my first steps, once I knew I had been misdiagnosed, was to send a memo to all the doctors who had been involved in misdiagnosing me. In that memo, I asked for three things:
1. I told the doctors who had made mistakes that I would not pay for their mistakes. I asked them to issue me billing statements that reflected $0.00 balances on my account. (I got them - all of them.)
2. I asked for apologies from those doctors who had been wrong. I got one - two years later. I shared that experience with you then.
3. I told them I would like to be invited to address a group of medical students to show them the outcomes of medical mistakes - how mistakes affect patients in the short and long term.
Until last Friday, that had not happened. At the University of Minnesota, it happened in spades. And during my presentation, when I shared my delight in being invited to participate in their 1 Health | Day 1, and my reasons, they applauded. They got it! They understood.
And yes, they heard YOUR messages, loud and clear. Your messages were part of my presentation. The students now understand how important it is to all of us that they learn to listen to us, their patients. They know you want modesty issues addressed. They heard that we patients are intelligent human beings who want to partner with them. And now you can see, too, how very well YOUR messages align with the goals of the 1 Health program.
I am so very grateful to the team at the University of Minnesota Center for Interprofessional Education for inviting me to participate in their new program's kick-off day. I am also grateful to those of you who shared your thoughts with me, so I could then share them with the 1 Health students.
As I said - a game-changer. In so very many ways.
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Great work, Trisha. I really appreciate the effort
your’e making. This is the kind of advocacy we
need. I’ve been impressed with this new generation
of medical professionals — not that the older generation
doesn’t deserve our praise, too. But it’s a new world, and
communication is so important. The technical skill is not
enough. Caregivers need to know how to communicate
openly and honestly with the whole person. Fine work.
Doug
Trisha’s work is helping patients everywhere. Something else that patients should be aware of is: the “Conditions of Participation” all hospitals must follow in order to receive reimbursements from Medicare. One condition is that all patients should be given a list of their Patient Rights, which includes the right to have copies of their medical records and to participate in their medical care!
Were any mental health professionals at the conference? My husband was an inpatient in a private psych hospital and I found that we were given no information about what medications or injections or treatments he was subjected to under their care. I was his POA but was never allowed to act on his behalf. I feel we were told lies by nurses and doctors. My husband is a doctor and I was an xray tech. I got him out as soon as I could and know we will never go to a psych hospital no matter how ill he becomes. It was as though he had become a criminal in a prison.A horrifying experience.
Thank you Trisha!
You did indeed promise that if we spoke on the subject, you would listen. I (and others) have often maintained that if you approach students at the beginning phase of learning then there is a greater chance that a meaningful impression can be made.
Here’s hoping that they in turn spread the message of respectful care…
Suzy Furno-Maricle