Medical School
I'm not sure if it's all med schools or just my med school that has the ability to take something that sounds really interesting and useful and turn it into the most dull/boring/useless thing in the universe. This is why I'm not looking forward to the day-long seminar I have tomorrow on domestic violence. I think that domestic violence is an important issue and that we definitely need special training on domestic violence in our curriculum. I hope that if someone affected by domestic abuse comes into my clinic one day I'll be able to help him/her figure out a way to get out of the situation and make a better life for him/herself.
This all being said, I'm not looking forward to my med school taking something so important and turning it into a 8 hour lecture-heavy experience in which I won't learn anything on how to actually manage patients in a domestic abuse situation. Inevitably this day is going to turn into a series of lectures on statistics of how many abused women need facial reconstructive surgery and exactly how many proline sutures are used each year to treat domestic abuse. There will be statistics about how many women affected by domestic violence live on streets starting with the letter 'B'. It will turn into discussions on "interdisciplinary care" that use lots of buzz words like SYNERGY and COOPERATION but actually don't SAY anything useful about how to locate resources or when to call law enforcement. I'm not sure how they can work a pharmacology lecture full of drawings of molecular structures and the cytochrome P450 cycle into domestic abuse, but I assure you, they will.
I really really hope that the workshop doesn't turn into yet another med school debacle, but judging from our AIDS symposium last year, I feel it coming on. I'm going to try to be optimistic. As you can tell, I'm not very good at it. So, expect a follow-up post tomorrow or the next day with the final thumbs-up or thumbs-down.
3 comments:
You have described it exquisitely and with skill. Sorry to hear they are making a debacle of domestic violence. I thought all medical schools were into problem based learning! There is some belief out their that the amount of time is related to importance. Ah well, you can get some decent, teachable moments on the blogs.
Are you still doing the family practice club thingy? Why not have someone from the local women's crisis centre come in and talk to your group? I spent a summer working for a centre like that and I know how important it is for family practioners to be able to recognize the victims and to work with the local crisis centre who have the resources in place. But I think the most important thing to remember in those situations is that it is up to the victim to make a change and that they need to be empowered and supported no matter their choice.
I remember how much useless information there was in lectures I thought could be really important. Sighhh. It does get better in residency though. Thank God
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