Better

I am a big fan of Atul Gawande, a surgeon at Brigham and Women's Hospital (one of the premier hospitals in this country). In this book he discussed how we can work to make healthcare better. It was a very compelling read for me as I consider what I need to do to move towards excellence in the way I care for patients and their families. Some of his supporting stories included:

• the significant strides that have been taking in infection control since they learned that the washing of hands by workers in the hospital fights infection
  
• the widespread and awe-inspiring immunization efforts taken in recent years with outbreaks of polio in different villages in India to prevent further spread
  
• the vast improvement military physicians have made in their treatment to help save the lives of soldiers in Iraq- it is incredible how they build mobile hospital units that bring the help to the frontlines and save the lives of many who would not have made it in prior wars
  
• The morality of physicians overseeing executions was also an interesting section
• The grand finale was a discussion on the bellcurve that exists in physicians performance that reaffirmed what I have observed in medicine in a short period of time. I want to work to become a positive deviant.

5 suggestions to become a positive deviant by Atul Gawande

1. Ask an unscripted question- learn something about them such as “where did you grow up?” “did you watch the game last night?” etc…
1. “If you ask a question, the machine begins to feel less like a machine.”
2. Don’t complain- it is infectious and leaves people feeling angry and sorry for themselves. It’s boring, it doesn’t solve anything, and it will get you down. You don’t have to be sunny about everything. Just be prepared with something else to discuss: an idea you read about, an interesting problem you came across.
3. Count something- Count the number of patients who develop a certain complication… if you count something you find interesting, you will learn something interesting
4. Write something- a blog, paper for a professional journal, a poem…. It need only add some small observation about your world. You should not underestimate the effect of your contribution, however modest. You should also not underestimate the power of the act of writing itself. ( I guess this helped convince me to start a blog)
   
5. Change- make yourself an early adopter. Look for the opportunity to change. Be willing to recognize the inadequacies in what you do and to seek out solutions.