I really appreciated all the activities today, but particularly the morning session. Watching Michael’s video about informed consent, or lack thereof, was infuriating. I came away from that so upset that there is such a strong culture of abusive and arrogant assertion of power over those who are most vulnerable. It is disheartening and scary that some people in our profession, even if they don’t represent the majority, have strayed so far from the compassion and caring nature that the profession should be modeled around. It is scary that we as a profession and a culture have let this happen to our colleagues. I am motivated to make sure I maintain compassion, respect, and advocacy for my patients; but also uphold and foster this culture in my peers.

The first day at Marseille was long but full of pleasant surprises, from the awesome lunch sandwiches to the passionate conversation among the participants. I was happy to meet all the other participants and the amazing staff- everyone here is both friendly and united over a common goal of improving healthcare. Interacting with and learning from the nursing students was a really great opportunity that I haven’t had much opportunity to do thus far in school.  It was helpful to hear about the communication and culture difference between nursing and physicians – it was something I had been aware of in the past but hadn’t been able to eloquently articulate. After the discussion today I thought of an idea of taking home to UVA the interdisciplinary, case based, discussion that we used in the surgery case today. I think discussions such as these would be a huge improvement to… Continue reading →