Our second day in Breckenridge was filled with powerful stories, activities, and analogies which I will keep with me as I move forward in my clinical career.

One of the most important themes that has been referred to in numerous discussions/activities is the ability of simple communication to prevent drastic medical errors and save human lives. During our discussion of the story of Michael Skolnik, in the afternoon lectures on PFACQS and high reliability organizations, and during our discussion of Why Hospitals Should Fly, numerous examples of the power of communication and its ability to prevent medical error were presented. This gave me hope–even though medical error is such a complex issue of systems engineering, if simply emphasizing and training staff members in communication would save thousands of patient lives there is no excuse to continue allowing rampant medical errors. This was an especially key takeaway… Continue reading →

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… Continue reading →

When I first applied for the Marseille Experience, I knew it would be an experience that would enhance they way I approach my future clinical years as a rising M2. However, after Day 1, the Marseille Experience has already truly transformed even my most basic assumptions regarding medicine.

I felt that the Lewis Blackman film was a true wakeup call for young students and residents. As a medical student, it often feels like the most important task as a future physician is to learn all the clinical manifestations of disease, their diagnostic criteria, and their treatments. However, the film evidenced that systems error may lead to a negative outcome regardless of all the knowledge accrued by health professionals. At first, this was disappointing to me–after so many years of education, the last thing you’d expect to cause the unnecessary death of a patient is a systems error. I… Continue reading →