Introduction
While taking this course, I have discovered that practice in the medical profession has some privileges and obligations that vary from the ones of other fields. This means that exceptional standards of professional conduct are anticipated of both medical students and practitioners (Fox et al., 2018). Medical training provides learners with the chance to gain professional behavior in a controlled setting that is secure for patients.
Professional Practice
Medical schools have the opportunity to note forms of behavior that are unsafe, and thereby take appropriate action to enable learners either improve their conduct or, when this is impossible, ensure that such students do not graduate as health professionals. For students to demonstrate that they are qualified for professional practice, they should be supervised severally for any medical duty they undertake and correctly portray their position and capabilities. Moreover, they should understand that treatment ought to be anchored in the medical requirement and the success of therapy alternatives, and that conclusions should be reached after thorough valuation and dialogue with the patient (Fox et al., 2018). Medical practitioners should not deceitfully discriminate against any patient by letting their opinions to adversely sway their professional affiliation or treatment provided (this encompasses their perspectives concerning the age, disability, color, culture, gender, ethnic background, religion, lifestyle, or socioeconomic status of a patient).
Personal Strengths
I have discovered that my personal strengths encompass the ability to develop strong relationships with the people around me and the desire to help others. For example, I have recently developed good relationships with patients whenever I have contact with them while taking the medical course. Irrespective of the existence of limitations to such clinical contacts and the fact that students are supervised, many patients have often considered me to be in a position of accountability, and this makes them assign additional importance to their views and comments (Lomis et al., 2017). Family members, partners, carers, and other people close to the patient should be given special consideration and offered support when necessary.
Even though I have a strong desire to help others and interact with them, I have discovered that health professionals and medical students are anticipated to uphold a professional boundary with patients and other people close to them. Medical practitioners should not use their professional status to cause psychological suffering or exploit patients (Fox et al., 2018). Positive interactions have made it easy for me to work collaboratively and productively with my colleagues both within and outside healthcare settings to ensure high standards of care and patient safety. As I work collaboratively with my fellow students, all of us receive increased support, which translates to enhanced confidence.
Weaknesses
One of the weaknesses that surfaced while taking the course is being too detail oriented. Although being detail oriented has made people to highly trust me, this character has at most times made me appear sluggish to get started. Unfortunately, this is not a good quality in the medical field. Detail oriented individuals mainly drag their feet before they start doing a task since they struggle to start working devoid of all the essentials (Lomis et al., 2017). Some people do not have dedication to the specifics of a task, and that may be exasperating for their colleagues who are detail oriented. Such frustration and distrust usually drive detail-oriented people like me to undertake several projects and monitor other people’s accurateness and progress, which is often disheartening for teammates.
Another weakness that I have come to realize is in being easily distracted by technology. Technologies, for example, smartphones and laptops have found their way into the classroom hence raising extensive concerns regarding their impact on many learners’ concentration in the classroom (Fox et al., 2018). Whenever I have my phone or laptop on as I do my personal studies, I usually go to the Internet and chat with my friends before realizing how much time I have wasted online.
Additional Resources and Abilities
Some of the resources and abilities that could have swayed more optimum learning outcomes include effective communication skills, library, and the Internet. Through effective communication, I have become a strong team player, which has benefitted my success through diverse views and collaboration. The school library enhances varied life skills hence improving personal development and promoting invention, inquisitiveness, and critical thinking. The school library is integral to the learning process since it inculcates desirable study practices in learners (Lomis et al., 2017). It inspires interest in diverse subjects and broadens the horizon. Additionally, the Internet plays a crucial role in developing knowledge and the desire of reading. Online research is a perfect way of stimulating thinking and learning. Although technology has its demerits, there are normally two aspects to every development. To improve vocabulary, solidarity of sentence structure, and grip of language, the best alternative is reading.
Meeting the Competencies Aligned to This Course
To meet the competencies aligned to the course, I have been honest, inventive, and genuine in my academic tasks, encompassing research tasks, and take recommended actions whenever I have concerns regarding the honesty of other people. I have sometimes brought attention to caregivers whenever I find concerns about, or mistakes in, their delivery of care. I have been trustworthy and honest when undertaking my assignments and writing reports. Moreover, I ensure integrity when handling different tasks either at school or in the medical field to avoid misrepresenting my qualifications, situation, and capability. In my assignments and research work, I avoid plagiarizing other people’s work or using my work repeatedly in a manner that could be intended to hoodwink. I have also learned to abide by the rules of the medical school, hospital, and other organizations where I serve from time to time. Moreover, I work collaboratively with other colleagues and medical professionals to realize joint objectives while also sharing information and knowledge with others and providing timely feedback. To ensure success and consistency, I set objectives for continuous improvement and keep learning different concepts and proficiencies while engaging in insightful practice for advancement, soliciting, and reacting promptly to feedback (Lomis et al., 2017). This has been promoted by making sure that team goals take a greater priority than individual aims.
Personal Knowledge and Skills Gained
Interprofessional Collaboration
In this course, I have learned that as the provision of healthcare develops to become highly interrelated, organizing care between doctors, nurses, social workers, pharmacists, and other fields has become gradually significant. Interprofessional collaboration entails the delivery of patient care from a team-based standpoint. Through implementation of interprofessional collaboration to operate jointly and respect people’s views in healthcare, numerous disciplines work jointly to promote patient outcomes. Refocusing professionals’ tasks through collaboration goes a long way to reducing ineffectiveness in patient care (Fox et al., 2018). This signifies that evaluations and treatments are done jointly, and emphasis is on patient care instead of a given diagnosis or treatment approach.
The Role of Technology in Facilitating Health Care Outcome
The best expertise promotes enhanced efficiency, better quality, and decreased costs. Among the numerous gains from technology are the promotion of effective communication between caregivers, improvement on medication safety, minimization of possible medical errors, enhancement of access to clinical data, and realization of patient-centered care. In patient care, sometimes several medical professionals are engaged in their care. This may remarkably reduce the possibility of mistakes and miscommunication. Communication problems are common aspects that lead to the existence of adverse events in patient care (Lomis et al., 2017). Technology has resulted in the creation of electronic health records, which assist in the compilation and maintenance of patients’ medical details into one easily available record.
Health Policy
Health policy entails all strategies, actions, and decisions carried out to realize healthcare objectives within a society. For their fitness to practice, health professionals and medical students should demonstrate proficiencies that enable them to address uncertainties and changes in the workplace. They should operate productively in teams and embark on different tasks as suitable, encompassing being responsible for their success (Fox et al., 2018). Both medical students and practitioners should develop and establish strong teamwork and leadership proficiencies. They should respect the contribution and skills of their colleagues and professionals in other disciplines without unfairly discriminating against anyone.
Conclusion
There is a need for every health professional to behave with decorum and report any issue regarding patient safety to the relevant person. I have learned that health professionals and medical students should build good rapport with patients anchored in openness, confidence, and good communication. Health professionals and medical students are encouraged to develop skills that will help them operate successfully in multi-disciplinary teams. Technology is an integral segment on healthcare delivery today.
References
Fox, L., Onders, R., Hermansen-Kobulnicky, C. J., Nguyen, T. N., Myran, L., Linn, B., & Hornecker, J. (2018). Teaching interprofessional teamwork skills to health professional students: A scoping review. Journal of Interprofessional Care, 32(2), 127-135.
Lomis, K. D., Russell, R. G., Davidson, M. A., Fleming, A. E., Pettepher, C. C., Cutrer, W. B., Fleming, G.M., & Miller, B. M. (2017). Competency milestones for medical students: Design, implementation, and analysis at one medical school. Medical Teacher, 39(5), 494-504.