This article was written by Sandra Fineman of Pennsylvania MPAS. She is also Vice President and Associate Professor in the Center for Interprofessional Studies at Marshall B. Ketchum University.
Online and remote teaching methods have become more popular over the past decade. The recent pandemic has created multiple new avenues for effective remote instruction, adapting to the evolving educational landscape. However, it is important to understand and never lose sight of the simple truth that practical education is the absolute foundation of a successful career for medical professionals.
Having worked as a medical educator and provider for many years, I believe not only in medical science but also in medical technology. Needless to say, medicine refers to a collection of knowledge represented by textbooks, and this cannot be taken lightly.
But medical skills are just as important on the path to becoming a medical professional, and students learn to listen to a patient's complaint as part of a larger story and to listen to a patient's medical and social history. Learn to lean and ultimately decide what's best. We combine compassion and skill to provide the appropriate care for that unique individual.
Without practical educational experience, it is impossible for students to learn medical technology.
From comfort zone to growth zone
Edgar Dale's famous Pyramid of Learning simply states that people remember 10% of what they read, 20% of what they hear, and 90% of what they do. The truth of this observation has been made clear time and time again, and it becomes even more important when you consider how high the stakes are in what we want medical students to remember.
We get annoyed when people reporting the weather are wrong about the rain. The impact can be even greater if your health care provider is wrong about your diagnosis or treatment.
For this reason, it is essential to give students lots of practical training. One of the main reasons why hands-on training is so effective is that no other learning method helps students get out of their comfort zones. It's true that some students are more “comfortable” learning remotely, whether it's from the back of the classroom or watching a live-streamed lecture from home.
When you pull students out of their comfort zone, they may even find themselves in a bit of a fear zone, where they don't know what will happen and are worried they'll make a mistake. But beyond the fear zone, where learning happens and where you begin to truly understand medicine and its underlying concepts, is the growth zone. When they do, they begin to develop into the caring and excellent health care providers we expect them to be.
Two pillars of practical healthcare education
Simulated laboratory training and clinical rotations are two pillars of practical medical education, and both methods provide ample opportunity for students to move from their comfort zone to their growth zone.
The simulated lab is the first place students begin to understand a variety of real-world treatments beyond what they learn in textbooks. They can observe how different teachers perform different skills and the different philosophies behind them, and practice their skills in a safe environment protected from beginner mistakes. Masu.
Eventually, students move on to their first clinical rotation, at which point many are definitely in the fear zone.
They are treating real patients with real problems, so it couldn't be more hands-on. However, because they still have the important safety net of having a knowledgeable clinical preceptor supervising them, they still have room to make mistakes and experience successes that will allow them to truly begin to grow as health care providers. Masu.
I requested a rotation with my weakest patient population at the end of the cycle in hopes that I would be better equipped to successfully complete that rotation at that point. I remember one student. I made it his first rotation.
I knew he was a good student and would grow in the future, but I also knew he needed to prove it to himself. There is no doubt in my mind that if he had started in a different rotation where he felt more comfortable, his development would have been limited.
We understood that he had some fear about that rotation, but the fear was not suffocating and the challenges he faced in that difficult environment improved his skills with each subsequent deployment. I knew it would develop him in an amplifying way.
Privileges of being a healthcare provider
I often tell my students: “Patients don't read textbooks!” Patients don't know everything about medicine. All they know is themselves and their symptoms. They bring their stories with them every time they visit, and they often come to visit us on our worst days.
They often make us “uncomfortable”. But each patient has more than a primary complaint, and we owe it to them to do what's best for them. Being able to move from discomfort and fear to learning and growing is an important way to honor the privilege of caring for people and is an important and valuable benefit of hands-on training for healthcare providers.
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