Whole Person Care by Tom A. Hutchinson

Author:Tom A. Hutchinson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Springer International Publishing, Cham

Reflexivity

At the fourth level of reflection students often ask us about the problems with the system. Why do their superiors not always demonstrate or even encourage the skills that we are teaching? Why does the overall aim of the medical system sometimes seem more directed to efficiency than caring? We have two responses to these questions. The first is that we acknowledge the problems, but students will have to function in a system with these problems, at least for now. What we are trying to teach them are ways to think, do, and be that will make them more effective in any system. Our second response is that they are the future of medicine, and we hope to see the system change as they begin to have a bigger say in how it works. To do that effectively, they will need to become more reflexive. Reflexivity is the ability to bring a nonjudgmental awareness to the system in which we work, to be willing to express ourselves, to have the courage to resist how things are, and to stand for something better. We find that students are both intimidated by this possibility and excited by it. As Samuel Shem points out, this may be one of the most important characteristics and duties of a medical professional—not simply working within the system but changing the system within which we work [7].

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