The IHI Open School is an innovative learning community where you can take free online courses, earn certificates, network with peers and experts, and gain confidence and skills in quality improvement and patient safety to change health care. Receive our newsletter from a friend? Click here to sign up.
To name just a few of the tough issues clinical trainees often experience and keep to themselves: medical errors, difficult patients, verbal or physical abuse, requests for unethical acts, disagreements with superiors, and personal burnout. Two physician leaders recently identified this list in a national survey — then, they created a website to offer free support services to help. “Students and residents are reluctant to talk to their teachers about these issues. Our website is one way that these learners can discuss sensitive personal and professional issues in a confidential environment,” Dr. Paul Griner, co-creator of the website and former President of the American College of Physicians, told the Open School. Learn more in an interview on our blog.
Dr. Jennifer Adaeze Okwerekwu has written a couple of articles for Stat News. First, “I’m a young black woman. Why do so many people assume I’m not a doctor?” and now “While I was treating a patient, his friend slapped my hand. Why did she think that was OK?” She explores the answers here. “Black women constantly deal with the indignity of not being taken seriously by white people whose privilege towers over them in society,” she writes. “In the hospital, however, the power and privilege are mine.” Learn more about power and privilege in TA 102: Improving Health Equity.
Chapter Updates
Welcome, New Chapters!
Belfast Health and Social Care Trust, United Kingdom
More than 500,000 students and residents have engaged with the Open School as they lead Chapters, take courses, and apply quality improvement skills locally to create change. In January, four former Chapter Leaders shared their stories and how anyone can bring what they’ve learned through the Open School into their careers in health care. We’ve compiled five key pieces of advice here — take a look!
To name just a few of the tough issues clinical trainees often experience and keep to themselves: medical errors, difficult patients, verbal or physical abuse, requests for unethical acts, disagreements with superiors, and personal burnout. Two physician leaders recently identified this list in a national survey — then, they created a website to offer free support services to help. “Students and residents are reluctant to talk to their teachers about these issues. Our website is one way that these learners can discuss sensitive personal and professional issues in a confidential environment,” Dr. Paul Griner, co-creator of the website and former President of the American College of Physicians, told the Open School. 
More than 500,000 students and residents have engaged with the Open School as they lead Chapters, take courses, and apply quality improvement skills locally to create change. In January, four former Chapter Leaders shared their stories and how anyone can bring what they’ve learned through the Open School into their careers in health care. 
