I recently failed at doing a relatively straightforward procedure on a patient, and the resident said to me, "don't beat yourself up," after I apologized. And at that moment, I made a pretty important self-realization: I am probably better off not succeeding at a given procedure, because I get too forms of feedback in the process: 1) I didn't succeed, but I figured out what some of the challenges of the procedure are, and 2) I got to see how the resident successfully performed the procedure thereafter. What if I had been lucky and succeeded right off the bat? Would I have the insight I (think I) have for the next time, had it just been totally easy for me? I think not. That's the beauty of the "failing" and getting feedback. And so, realizing that, I could earnestly say, "Yeah, no, if there's one thing I've learned in med school, it's that being unsuccessful at procedures and the like is all part of the job, and it's all an opportunity to LEARN!" Over-exuberance about failure aside, true that.
Thursday, March 28, 2013
Middle school failure = Medical school success?
Some compelling insights (albeit completely qualitative and non-quantitative in nature) into how struggling when younger predict future success: http://www.theatlantic.com/
I recently failed at doing a relatively straightforward procedure on a patient, and the resident said to me, "don't beat yourself up," after I apologized. And at that moment, I made a pretty important self-realization: I am probably better off not succeeding at a given procedure, because I get too forms of feedback in the process: 1) I didn't succeed, but I figured out what some of the challenges of the procedure are, and 2) I got to see how the resident successfully performed the procedure thereafter. What if I had been lucky and succeeded right off the bat? Would I have the insight I (think I) have for the next time, had it just been totally easy for me? I think not. That's the beauty of the "failing" and getting feedback. And so, realizing that, I could earnestly say, "Yeah, no, if there's one thing I've learned in med school, it's that being unsuccessful at procedures and the like is all part of the job, and it's all an opportunity to LEARN!" Over-exuberance about failure aside, true that.
I recently failed at doing a relatively straightforward procedure on a patient, and the resident said to me, "don't beat yourself up," after I apologized. And at that moment, I made a pretty important self-realization: I am probably better off not succeeding at a given procedure, because I get too forms of feedback in the process: 1) I didn't succeed, but I figured out what some of the challenges of the procedure are, and 2) I got to see how the resident successfully performed the procedure thereafter. What if I had been lucky and succeeded right off the bat? Would I have the insight I (think I) have for the next time, had it just been totally easy for me? I think not. That's the beauty of the "failing" and getting feedback. And so, realizing that, I could earnestly say, "Yeah, no, if there's one thing I've learned in med school, it's that being unsuccessful at procedures and the like is all part of the job, and it's all an opportunity to LEARN!" Over-exuberance about failure aside, true that.
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