Pauline Chen, MD, health blogger for The New York Times Well Blog, recently wrote about the transition new medical grads go through when they start their internships or residencies. In her post, Chen recalls a time when one of her fellow interns needed help drawing a patient’s blood, and another didn’t know how to prepare a patient for surgery. Her point: Students who all endured four years of medical school and took the same national standardized tests were unequally prepared to practice medicine and carry out some of the most routine duties.
Chen’s article points to the need to train doctors to work in a health system where they communicate and work as part of a team, and also illuminates the need for competency-based training modules to ensure all health professionals practice at their highest potential. Recommendation’s from last year’s Macy Conference outline how we can align health care education and practice, while our project with the University of Virginia shows how a program can bring students together to learn teamwork skills and develop collaborative behaviors.
Learn more about Macy’s effort to grow interprofessional-education-and-teamwork