August 25th, 2011 by RamonaBatesMD in Research
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I was alerted to this Archives of Surgery article (full reference below) by MedPage Today: Role Playing Boosts Surgical Residents’ Bedside Manner.
I find it intriguing. Role playing gives you a chance for a “do-over” when you make a social or communication faux pas.
So much of medicine is communication. Those of us who have been at it for years, deliver bad news differently (learned the hard way) now than we did previously. You choose your words more carefully (though I still occasionally screw up). Some words are more emotionally charged than others. Some patients want more information than others.
The University of Connecticut Health Center conducted a prospective study of a pilot project designed to teach surgical residents patient-centered communication skills.
The study offered Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Suture for a Living*
July 29th, 2011 by RamonaBatesMD in Better Health Network
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It seems to me this topic of surgeons and their lack of civility gets pulled out on a fairly regular basis. This latest discussion in the news media is due to a short article in the current Archives of Surgery (full reference below).
Surgeons as a group have a reputation (which even nice ones have trouble overcoming) of arrogance and incivility.
The authors, Klein and Forni, of this article state (bold emphasis is mine):
Uncivil behavior is so present in society at large that we should not be surprised to find it among health care workers. This article is meant to raise the awareness of the costs—both in dollars and in human misery—of incivility in the practice of medicine by looking in particular at the case of surgeons.
Uncivil behavior brings misery wherever it occurs. If the individual tends to behave in an uncivil fashion prior to medical school and prior to residency, Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Suture for a Living*
March 2nd, 2011 by Bongi in Book Reviews, Opinion
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This post is a bit of a diversion from my usual posts, but I think it may still be worthwhile. You see, I want to promote a book.
I’ve just read the book, “Steeped in Blood: The Life and Times of a Forensic Scientist“ by David Klatzow. What a stunning book. It really gives insight into the South Africa of old and possibly what South Africa of future may end up being like. I suggest that everyone get ahold of it and read it.
However, David, I do feel I must challenge you on one point. Towards the end of your book, you say one of your surgeon friends told you a story of one of our Cuban import surgeons who tried to do a tonsillectomy through the neck rather than through the mouth, the normal way of doing it. I know this story and have heard it often myself in the corridors in Pretoria. Unfortunately it’s urban legend and nothing more.
I have worked with the Cubans, and they aren’t too shabby. Don’t get me wrong — they aren’t a scratch on a South African specialist (although the standards are dropping as you rightly point out, and quite soon they may be far better than homegrown specialists), but the point is that they wouldn’t do something so bizarrely stupid. I even suspect I know who your surgeon friend might be, especially if he presently finds himself in Pretoria rather than Johannesburg, where you no doubt got to know him.
Anyway, still an absolutely brilliant read for anyone who wants to get a peek into the workings of the apartheid government of old. Go and buy it now.
*This blog post was originally published at other things amanzi*
October 27th, 2010 by RamonaBatesMD in Better Health Network, Opinion, Research
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There’s an article in the Oct 20, 2010 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) which discusses surgical team training and teamwork in the operating room.
Most surgeons have crews or individuals in the operating rooms they prefer to work along side. Things just go smoother. We work more as a team, more as one.
Why? Personalities. Communication styles that work well together. Skills that compliment. Each person knows and does their job, not trying to do someone else’s. Each knowing that even the smallest task is important to the whole.
Ideally, we could create teams like this at all times in the operating room. In reality, its not so easy. Change in personnel happens. Team members get sick, so there is great need for crosstraining and flexibility. Personnel (including surgeons) need to be able to work with these changes.
I know currently the comparison is to racecar teams that change the tires, etc. with great efficiency or the aviation industry with their checklists. While we should learn from these industries, we must not forget that medicine is far more diverse. Surgeries are not all the same. The cars are. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Suture for a Living*
