I recently traveled to San Salvador to help teach a pediatric and adult ultrasound course. The course was well received and it was wonderful traveling around San Salvador.
I wanted to share some of our experiences, and discuss some challenges to educating internationally. More importantly, I want to engage you, the readers to share some of your experiences when educating internationally as well.
“So there’s a patient, and umm… they are in the hallway, they came to the ED today for breathing problems, I mean dyspnea. They also don’t speak any English. So, uh the respiratory rate is normal, and they had a blood clot, er… I mean PE, in the past, but not on coumadin anymore. Shoot, I forgot to tell you my exam…they had pitting edema for 3 months. By the way, the labs came back on that other anemic patient in the other hallway, and they are really anemic…” – Anonymous medical student
Sounds familiar? Imagine working in a hectic ED while listening to this chaotic presentation.
What’s the secret to presenting patients?
Medical education high-fidelity simulation allows for deliberate practice in a safe environment. We are able to miss the intubation repeatedly or botch up the management of aspirin overdose without the demise of the patient. At the end of each session, we gather in a pow wow and debrief….
I have been involved with debriefings, and often wonder what residents are thinking:
What does debriefing even mean?
“I desire no other epitaph…than the statement that I taught medical students in the wards, as I regard this as by far the most useful and important work I have been called upon to do.” – Sir William Osler, renowned physician and believer in bedside medical education
And with this quotation I would like to introduce a new segment to Academic Life in Emergency Medicine. One of the most important job descriptions we have as physicians is to be a clinical instructor… while simultaneously running cardiac arrest codes, managing agitated altered mental status patients, and avoiding documentation errors.