The self you take into medical dental school 2011

c o n n e c t i n g p h y s i c i a n s t o h e a l t h

We will be using the audience response systme

(clickers )during this Session


The Self You Bring Into Medical/Dental School

Andrew Clarke, MD DOHSExecutive Director, Physician Health Program

John Palmer, DDS, MC, RCCDirector, Dental Professionals Advisory Program

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Objectives: We will…

• acknowledge the value of learning about ourselves

• become aware of how our strengths can beassociated with vulnerabilities

• begin to recognize some of the implications that our particular strengths and vulnerabilities have for us as (future) practitioners – individually – in relationships with others (pairs and small

groups)– collectively as a professional culture


Plan for this session

1. We will conduct a brief survey of your beliefs using the clickers.1. The results will be presented immediately so that you can

see how your personal beliefs compare with your colleagues’.

2. There are no “right” answers to these questions.3. No personally identifying information will be collected.

2. We will present some of the results from Monday’s small group sessions

3. We will hear some observations about the connection between strengths and vulnerabilities.

4. We will hear a story of personal strength and vulnerability


TURN ON YOUR CLICKERS NOW!

Ready, set…


Practice Question (wait for instructions)

Which Faculty are you affiliated with?A.DentistryB.Medicine


How well would you say that you know yourself?

A. Extremely well

B. Quite well

C. Not sure

D. Not very well

E. Hardly at all


How have you learned about yourself in the past?

Most of my learning about myself so far has come from:

A. Introspection (thinking by myself about my experiences)

B. Reflective dialogue with another about our experiences

C. Hearing others’ opinions of meD. Hearing an important story or fable and

thinking about how it might apply to meE. Answering survey questions, and seeing

how my responses compare to others’


Learning about ourselves is difficult

Becoming aware of our assumptions is a puzzling and contradictory task. Very few of us can get very far doing this on our own. No matter how much we may think we have an accurate sense of ourselves, we are stymied by the fact that we are using our own interpretive filters to become aware of our own interpretive filters.

- Brookfield S. Critically reflective practice. J. Contin. Educ. Health Prof. 1998;18(4):197-205.


Your Current Theory of Intelligence

Indicate your degree of agreement with the following statement: You can learn new things, but you can’t really change your basic intelligence.

Note – only four choices here. No "can't decide" option

A. Agree strongly

B. Agree somewhat

C. Disagree somewhat

D. Disagree strongly


Your aspirations as a learner

When studying for an examination, I usually aim to get 100%

A. Agree stronglyB. Agree C. Uncertain / no opinionD. DisagreeE. Disagree strongly


Abundance of success, or lack of failure?

• You've been successful students. You may not yet be skilled at learning from failure.

• Whether you are or not, is well correlated to the question we asked earlier about your theory of intelligence.

• If you believe intelligence is fixed, you’re at higher risk for having a maladaptive response to failure.


“To each one of you the practice of medicine will be very much as you make it – to one a worry, a care, a perpetual annoyance; to another, a daily joy and a life of as much happiness and usefulness as can well fall to the lot of man”

- Sir William Osler

The risks and benefits for you…


The kind of subjects you’ve been drawn toward

I’m drawn toward subjects where the right answer is always clear: where there’s less room for teacher bias to affect my evaluation.



Shift in decision context from "pure" to "applied"

• There will cease to be “right” answers (more complexity, even chaos)

• You won’t be able to please everyone at the same time.

• Harder work, less appreciation.

Snowden, D. J., & Boone, M. E. (2007). A leader's framework for decision making. Harvard Business Review, 85 (11), 68-76.

http://xkcd.com/435/


My (future) professional identity

I think that the profession I’ve chosen represents a higher calling than other professions.



The culture you’re about to be immersed in

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Patients’ lives?

It is as important to ask patients about what is happening in

their lives as it is to ask about their physical complaints.

A. Agree stronglyB. AgreeC. Uncertain / no opinionD. DisagreeE. Disagree strongly


Think like patients?

Physicians and dentists should try to think like their patients in

order to render better care.A. Agree stronglyB. AgreeC. Uncertain / no opinionD. DisagreeE. Disagree strongly


Affectional ties

Physicians’ and Dentists’ affectional ties with their patients cannot have a significant place in professional practice.



Patients’ personal experiences

Physicians and dentists must be attentive to their patients’ personal experiences.



Empathy Declines



1. We will conduct a brief survey of your beliefs using the iClickers.1. The results will be presented immediately so that you can

see how your personal beliefs fit into the context of your peer group.


2. We will present some of the results from Monday's small groups


4. We will hear a personal story of strength and vulnerability


We asked you about your personal strengths

What is one strengthyou value in yourselfthat has helped you get here?


Here's what you said about your personal strengths

determined

open-minded

curious

compassionate

enthusiastic

efficient

humorous

creative

self-controlled

cooperative

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140

119

41

39

21

17

15

13

11

10

9

Top ten responses (89% cumulatively)


We asked about what you value in colleagues

What strengthwould you value mostin a professional colleague?


Here's what you value in each other

cooperative

open-minded

compassionate

enthusiastic

Helpful

loyal

humorous

diplomatic

creative

determined

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

92

57

35

24

19

12

11

10

7

6



We asked what you think patients value

What strength would patients value mostin a treating physician or dentist?


Here's what patients would value in you…

compassionate

helpful

open-minded

loyal

determined

efficient

hopeful

enthusiastic

curious

modest

0 50 100 150 200 250

192

37

19

14

10

8

6

6

5

5



Why is any of this important?

• The context for your learning will change radically in the next four years – the "right answer" may not be clear.

• For some of you, your lack of experience with failure (i.e. success) may become a vulnerability.

• The professional culture may take your strengths, and expose them as vulnerabilities.

• This may lead to cynicism and a decline in your ability to empathize with colleagues, patients and yourself.








4. We will hear a personal story of strength and vulnerability.

An Anecdotal Perspective:Dental Profession Advisory

Program

Dr John Palmer, DDS, MC,RCCDirector, Dental Profession Advisory Programme August 27th 2009

Freud’s observation:

• The two chief tasks in life are:– To love – To work

• Succeed at both and you will have a successful and satisfying life.

33

IQ v. EQ : That is the question:

• Emotional Intelligence (1995) Daniel Goleman• EQ predicts life success

more accurately than IQ.• EQ is not simply innate,

it can be developed.

Strengths that can tumble into liabilities:

• Independence (grandiosity) – a need to be in control (actively, by aggressive control and competitiveness, or passively, by opting out).

• Perfectionism – a driven need to be perfect in every way – technically productive but personally and interpersonally destructive.

• Tendency to “hyper-focus” (obsess) and lose the bigger picture.

Tension between professional practice and life process issues.. • Professional practice– involves the

scientific method, clustering around concrete, discrete, predictable outcomes.

• Life process -involves ambivalence around complex issues (in relation to self and others), experimentation, and the incorporation of feedback.

“I certainly have been thrust

into unknown territory.

I am used to being in total

control

of my life. All of a sudden,

I have no control over what is

going on.”

“It has been the scariest, most

difficult time

of my life and, without professional

support

(and family support), I literally may

not have

made it through this alive.”

So what relevance does this have for me as a medical/dental

student?

1. During your training you will face significant stressors.

2. The coping choices you make will tend to match your temperament and become a fixed pattern over time.

3. The self-awareness you develop, practice, and manage will be a “make or break” factor in your life trajectory.

Establish or reinforce a durable platform to build on………..

• Self-monitoring and management.• Peer and/or community support• Development of spirituality• Make use of services available








4. We will hear a personal story of strength and vulnerability


Thanks!Questions and Comments?

Education

The self you take into medical dental school 2011