All,

I want to begin by saying THANK YOU for sending me to Marseille to learn from some of the nation’s pioneer leaders in patient safety and quality improvement. I have been so moved that I want this to be my “niche” in medicine as I continue on to become a pediatric hospitalist. I am hoping at some point to sit down with all of you to discuss the processes CMH has in place to reduce error and at the same time acknowledge human factors. I have not yet made it to error prevention training due to scheduling conflicts, but I am excited CMH is taking this step towards becoming a high reliability organization. Nick Clark has done a great job of incorporating patient safety moments into many of the meetings he has led, and I hope to carry this forward in some way.

We watched a variety of videos… Continue reading →

The story of Michael Skolnik stimulated some fascinating but somewhat difficult discussions. As a resident, especially a first year resident (scrambling to see patients, figure out a plan and write notes), it’s hard to remember to take the time to give a thorough informed consent, even for simple procedures such as circumcisions. Our consent form for this procedure at my hospital is a page long at like a font size of 10. But is there really that much to talk about? And to be honest, I have NEVER read that form all the way through. I know it talks a little bit about my hospital being a teaching hospital and a little about the hierarchy of residents, attendings, etc. It’s pretty technically written though, not anything I would want to read if I were a patient even with the same amount of education I have. Other thoughts that our discussion… Continue reading →

Yesterday was so powerful, but I don’t know whether to feel more afraid to be a physician or excited to be a part of the movement to make hospitals safer. What’s going to stick with me most from yesterday are the stories that were told. I am not a good storyteller, but I am realizing that this is a skill that will allow me to communicate better with patients and those I teach in the future (medical students, residents, etc). Excited for more stories to come today!