Well, it is Sunday so I need to blog. :-) Blogging should be about reflection. It is difficult to reflect in a hurry. But I have appointments with students at Starbucks soon, so I will try to do some quality reflection in a hurry.
"Grady Doctor" recently made a post about physicians at Grady Hospital being required to attend training in the new software to be used to keep electronic medical records.
http://www.gradydoctor.com/2010/10/emarrrrggghhh.html
Well, I have had enough experience teaching adults to use software to be able to "see" the situation in my mind. The most challenging students to work with in those kinds of training setting are often the students with the most professional experiences. By comparison, working with most undergraduates is relatively easy. Professionals are not used to being in a position of percieved weakness. Doctors are accustomed to making very important decisions quickly and not often having to explain themselves. It is difficult for professionals to have to take on the role of needing assistance. And, in addition, so much software is poorly designed. That combination of factors tends to breed anxiety, frustration and even anger. As a teacher who too often feels what the student is feeling I know that that can be hard on a teacher as well. Physicians have to deal with a great variety of human emotions. Some do it better than others. But learning new software (especially if they may not buy into the need for it) is a different kind of challenge. We all sometimes get pushed or pulled out of our comfort zones. Physicians are no exceptions.
I think this qualified as being at least minimally reflective. I look forward to reading your blog posts (and your comment to my post, please!) soon.
Upon a bit further reflection, perhaps physicians are resistant to having to learn how to use the electronic medical records (EMR) software because they see it as an infringement on their professional autonomy. Going forward, all their major decisions will be documented in a way that can be easily accessed by others. If so, physicians are not alone in such concern. We are having to learn to live our lives on a more open stage. I think younger generations will have fewer issues with this than older professionals.
ReplyDeleteStudents, please comment on my posts occasionally. It is okay to disagree or to ask for clarification.
ReplyDeleteGetting adjusted to the electronic medical records, I never looked at it that way, that some physicians may have a pretty hard time getting adjusted to the new way of doing things. Some also may be a little hesitate about getting into the "gist" because the major decisions they make (concerning a patient’s medical care) will be "documented in a way that can be easily accessed by others", their decisions will no longer be locked away on paper inside their doctor offices....as far as the younger generation, yes it will be much easier for them; my eight year old can maneuver through the computer, applications, electronics etc. waaaaaay better than I can. You Dr. Neuabauer had to help me set up an account and create my first blog, Ms. Cooper made me realize I wasn’t logging in to post, (I just thought something was wrong with the application) and my eight year son had to show me how to delete a post I mistakenly posted. Shame on me. SMH
ReplyDeleteWhen you obtain your doctorate degree, you are told that this is a terminal degree and you have learned all you need for a life time. This is such a misconception! Physicians are extremely intelligent, but they have a need to constantly learn new , innovative ways of providing quality patient care. Electronic medical records should be the big solution to a century of problems. It should resolve the problems of other healthcare professions not understanding the physician's handwriting, missing files , transciption errors,etc. These flaws in the healthcare system have resulted in the mis-diagnosing of patients, the mis-treatment of patients, and ultimately, the deaths of patients.
ReplyDeletePhysicians are in a constantly evolving profession that require alot of continuing education opportunities. In order to be competitive, they have to embrace "change". New technologies will hopefully challenge our generation and generations to come. Physicians are very smart, but there is no such thing as a "terminal" education.