Atul Gawande How Do We Heal Medicine Summary
In “How Do We Heal Medicine?”, Atul Gawande in an inspiring Ted Talk asserts that the complexity of modern medicine has caused us to fail millions of patients, however, if we work together we can begin to make our health care system work. He voices an instance where he and a team of people created a checklist for surgery to battle complications and patient death. In which so he articulates, “We implemented this checklist in eight hospitals around the world, deliberately in places from rural Tanzania to the University of Washington in Seattle. We found that after they adopted it the complication rates fell 35 percent. The death rates fell 47 percent. This was bigger than a drug.” In this instance it is evident that he illustrates the impact
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I also agree with his detailed statement, “There's a famous thought experiment that touches exactly on this that said, what if you built a car from the very best car parts? Well it would lead you to put in Porsche brakes, a Ferrari engine, a Volvo body, a BMW chassis. And you put it all together and what do you get? A very expensive pile of junk that does not go anywhere. And that is what medicine can feel like sometimes. It's not a system.” He’s essentially saying you can have the best individuals for the job but without them working together our healthcare system will continue to fail many patients. I agree with Gawande that we cannot accomplish nearly as much individually. This is because, I have found in my own educational experiences that if I work with a partner we do much better on the assignment therefore receiving a better grade. The ability to work well in teams is a very marketable skill in today’s modern world. For instance, those who demonstrate team work and have leadership skills in these teams are more likely to be hired. My experiences testify to this claim that teamwork skills will help you in finding jobs. My sister for instance, was a hiring manager for the restaurant chain Domino’s and she revealed to me the qualities they wanted in an employee. Of these qualities, the top priority was teamwork. If a pizza joint can recognize the importance of teamwork, then
I also agree with his detailed statement, “There's a famous thought experiment that touches exactly on this that said, what if you built a car from the very best car parts? Well it would lead you to put in Porsche brakes, a Ferrari engine, a Volvo body, a BMW chassis. And you put it all together and what do you get? A very expensive pile of junk that does not go anywhere. And that is what medicine can feel like sometimes. It's not a system.” He’s essentially saying you can have the best individuals for the job but without them working together our healthcare system will continue to fail many patients. I agree with Gawande that we cannot accomplish nearly as much individually. This is because, I have found in my own educational experiences that if I work with a partner we do much better on the assignment therefore receiving a better grade. The ability to work well in teams is a very marketable skill in today’s modern world. For instance, those who demonstrate team work and have leadership skills in these teams are more likely to be hired. My experiences testify to this claim that teamwork skills will help you in finding jobs. My sister for instance, was a hiring manager for the restaurant chain Domino’s and she revealed to me the qualities they wanted in an employee. Of these qualities, the top priority was teamwork. If a pizza joint can recognize the importance of teamwork, then