The Three Services I Want to Provide to My Patients

Lara Baatenburg

Lara Baatenburg

We all have those areas of life where we just feel incredibly out of place and like we are standing like deer in the headlights. For me, this is going to the mechanic. I’m always nervous to bring my car in; what if there is something wrong with my car and I can’t afford it, what if the mechanic tries to pull a fast one on me, what if, what if, what if? I recently had to go to my mechanic, and he proceeded to list all the things wrong with my car. As I stood there nodding my understanding I was really thinking that I had no idea what he was talking about. He was using words I didn’t know, explaining about parts of the car I had never heard of, and the list of my ignorance goes on. Obviously I know nothing about vehicles, but I don’t want him to know that!  When he finished and asked if I had any questions I responded confidently, “Nope, you did a great job of explaining that, thank you,” when really I had no idea what to ask because since I only understood maybe 10% of what I was told, forming any question was difficult.

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Risks, Benefits, and the “Invisible Bag”

mitchell-f-richard

Richard F. Mitchell, MD, MS

“Did you discuss prostate cancer screening with your patient?”

“I did, but…”

“But what?”

“Well, it was strange, but as I was discussing the risks and benefits, the patient just looked at me and said, ‘This is confusing, can’t you just tell me what I should do? What would you do if it was you?’”

Has something like this happened to you while you were precepting residents? Has it happened to you when you were talking to your own patients? In this age of patient-centered care, we teach our residents to involve patients in shared decision making. How do you counsel a resident working with a patient who doesn’t want to buy into that program? How do you teach your residents to respond to the question, “If it was you, what would you do?”

You might find the answer in an invisible bag.

“There is an invisible bag right in front of you. Think ‘Santa Claus sack.’ Would you like to reach in and take something out?”

“Why would I do that?”

“It’s full of $100,000 bills.”

“Yes! Can I take two?”

“No. But there’s something else you should know. The bag also has blank pieces of paper that feel exactly like $100,000 bills.”

“That’s OK—can I put my hand in now?”

“One last bit of information before you do—it’s also full of razor blades.”

“…Ah.”

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Required Faculty Development for Preceptors: It Can Be Done!

Dennis Baker, PhD

Dennis Baker, PhD

In 2001, I took a position as the assistant dean for faculty development at the newly formed Florida State University College of Medicine (FSUCOM) in Tallahassee. I came to FSUCOM with 22 years of faculty development experience, the bulk of that with the Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine.

For 16 years I travelled throughout Ohio giving teaching skills workshops for community preceptors. It was during the late 1980s through the 1990s, when the landscape of medicine was changing and preceptors had less time to teach and to participate in faculty development activities. I often thought about pushing for a faculty development requirement but knew there would be push back from preceptors and the administration.

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