Working Together 

A pre-med’s thoughts on integrated training. 

Doctors have a strong sense of the effects of their individual actions. This is a good thing in that it can reinforce their sense of professionalism and their duty to their patients. But it also leaves them vulnerable to profound and deep scars when things don’t go well. My professor dubbed them the “second victim.”

But I think the current and next generation of doctors might have a different story to tell. By starting in medical school and working with nurses and other key members of a healthcare team, they can learn to trust others and view medicine not as an individual practice but as a cohesive, integrated effort. Great medical schools include those that allow medical students to cooperate with their counterparts, like nursing students, and pharmacy students in creating cohesive team. The best medical schools even create simulated environments with observational theaters so that professors can go through their actions like a football coach that watches reels after the game. I’m looking forward to a future that ingrains the culture of cooperation into medical students and all other providers in the continuity of care.