Concluding statements:
Today we talked about
professionalism, the first thing that came to mind is related to doctors. In addition to being a music educator, I’m
also working on projects related to medical ethics, so this really interests
me. I think there's a lot to talk about
in medical ethics, how we train doctors to become empathic to human beings, and
also not to lost professionalism, when they are treating a patient, and trying
to communicate with them. But from
working on these projects, I find it's hard to teach ethics, in a widely
accepted way. And so this topic becomes
quite interesting. But I deeply believe
that, being a doctor, since I work with a lot of doctors, and try to help them,
and as a research assistant try to help them build medical ethics, I think a professional
doctor, it's not mutually exclusive to be a good doctor and a good person. And sometimes, it's interesting to see how
doctors from older generations, in their time there were no medical ethics, in
fact, but they were great doctors, and they care about their patients as much
as young doctors do, even though the were not taught medical ethics, they just
do things based on their experience. So
I think, yes we should teach this, but it's also not something you teach, you
just expect doctors to be this way. We
should carefully select those who want to dedicate their lives to medical
practice. It's the person that makes him
or her be a good doctor.
I was thinking about a high
school friend. He used to be a very
smart person, in 7th grade, he was one year younger than us because he skipped
ahead. He was a genius and he always
ranked at the top, and in 9th grade he skipped again, and then got into medical
school. Lots of people go to medical
school if they have high grades. But he
didn't become successful like I thought, he turned out to not really become a
doctor in the end. He said he was not
perfect for it. He liked medicine, but
he felt he was not suitable for it. So
he studied neuroscience, to be a researcher instead of a doctor. He's in medicine, but not treating patients.
I would say he's a very professional person.
It's kind of that he was professional, to choose what he knew he was
suited for. But it still kind of surprises me.
It seems to me that everything
I said today related to not trusting professionals, so I will continue in this
vein. Well, I tend to think that the
empathy thing, or being caring of
somebody is a gift, it's a personality rather than something we can learn from. So this is why we need some training, or some professional courses to teach those who want to specialize in some field, the skills to care about patients, there are lots of protocols you have to do to become a successful professional. I prefer to think that sometimes we have to give the chance to those so-called professionals, as a client or as ordinarily people, to give them a chance to express themselves, because they are expected to be professional, so they act like that, but if somebody discusses with them to a certain extent, they're free from their boxes and talk more with you. I tend to think this professional thing is a structural thing. It's the professional themself to want to express like a professional, it's society that expects them to, so maybe we can give them some chance, and be critical when we communicate with them.
somebody is a gift, it's a personality rather than something we can learn from. So this is why we need some training, or some professional courses to teach those who want to specialize in some field, the skills to care about patients, there are lots of protocols you have to do to become a successful professional. I prefer to think that sometimes we have to give the chance to those so-called professionals, as a client or as ordinarily people, to give them a chance to express themselves, because they are expected to be professional, so they act like that, but if somebody discusses with them to a certain extent, they're free from their boxes and talk more with you. I tend to think this professional thing is a structural thing. It's the professional themself to want to express like a professional, it's society that expects them to, so maybe we can give them some chance, and be critical when we communicate with them.
And the other thing I want to
talk about is ethical thing. Recently
there was some news about the nurses in a Hualien hospital. They don't get any breaks over a very long
time, because they are short of nurses there.
There are arguments saying they should hands on because there are more
important things to do, looking after patients.
So they put this 'professional' argument on teachers, nurses, doctors,
and say 'you have to do these things'
but the truth is, it doesn't make things better. So we should be critical about the scope
of being a professional, and not just use it as an argument to tell them what
to do.
An excuse to impose an extra
unreasonable burden, on them.
Discussion notes:
What is professional?
Dressed appropriately
Dress codes, dark colors
Give conservative estimates,
leave ambiguity.
Speak neutrally, avoid offence
or misleading
Expected to be perfect
Able to think ahead, prepared
for questions or to make estimates
Trained in specific skills,
given professional knowledge e.g. Case studies
Can claim a certain level of
expertise and experience
What is an amateur?
Not expected to be perfect
Not experienced enough to be
prepared/make estimates
What's the difference between professional
and amateur athletes?
Have different goals
Amateurs train less, not
expected to do extra training
Professional expected to be
more completely dedicated
More intense expectations of
the prof
Professional get paid an
amateurs don't
Amateurs have more freedom to
do what they want.
Professional can only do
client's wishes
Professional is responsible
for consequences, "they're the professional"
What are the advantages to
being professional?
Making more money
Reputation = getting more
clients
Able to do things more
effectively and efficiently. (have the
training and experience)
Disadvantages?
Licensing fees
Costs money to maintain
standard of knowledge, conferences seminars workshops books networking etc.
Expectation to perform well at
all times
You're responsible when things
go wrong.
'Professional' knowledge may
prevent from seeing real conditions on the ground, and not really respond to
the real needs.
Is there a difference between
'ethically professional' and
'Coldly professional'?
'Ethically' meaning: try do to
best job possible including ground-up knowledge and feedback
'Coldly' letter-of-the law approach
Criticism of Tonee Ndungu's
presentation:
Said a lot of nonsense, joking
around
He didn't seem to have a main
topic
Not focused on his topic
Didn't reward a close
listening
No connection and structure in
his slides
Is there a connection between
having a 'professional face' and the people who walk around Taipei looking
unhappy?
Linked to credibility, should
take things seriously
Is it professional or not to
cry when a client tells you tragic story?
Show it affects you but don't
cry
Professionalism is about
controlling emotions to appropriate expression.
Emotional expression is
sometimes a burden on other people, and sometimes it's the most respectful
thing.
Aliens vs. robots:
Anything you identify with?
Robots are the ideal worker in
Taiwan, this is what employers want.
Not just in Taiwan!
Aliens seem like
troublemakers. If this kind of person
is your friend, you end up taking care of them.
They're interesting, funny, but troublemakers
It's about deciding to conform
to social stereotypes, or what's acceptable, it's why he says it's a fight with
yourself
Fight against somebody = that
person is wrong and bad
Fight with somebody = equal
adversary, probably of worth
When does being a person interfere with being a
professional?
When does being a professional interfere with being a
person?
Is it possible to be both?
Insurance centers are supposed
to be about helping people minimize risk, but do they really do this? The services that the agent provide, are they
genuine or about closing the deal?
Genuinely in a position to
help somebody.
Using the position to
emotionally manipulate the client
Lots of time things are done
with good intention, but lead to disaster. Often good intentions can go wrong. So professionalism is about creating a
protocol to minimize damage.
The nurse in the example who
got too close to the psychiatric patient did it out of her good will, but maybe
creating a bad effect, and so who is responsible for this?
"the road to hell is
paved with good intentions."
Medical ethics
Doctors expected to
professional, neutral, talk about consequences and bad outcomes.
Now also expected to be more
'human' - important to discuss the treatment with patient before
implementation.
Doctor's responsibility to
make patient understand, and have full, informed consent of patient
It's an art based on
experience!
Empathy
Can you train for it?
How much is professional?
It's not an experience thing…the
younger doctors are more enthusiastic, and they have to listen more, and
discuss more, and consult people like the nurses, instead of making
It's about attitude: because of experience may be overlook
important things, subtle changes, important factors, rely too much on
experience.
A rookie doctor might pay more
attention to that.
Or miss it because they didn't
know what it was
The snobbishness and hubris of
professionals
Line between someone seeking
attention and truly needing attention.
The rookie doctors and
experienced doctors are all professionals.
And experience is not always a good thing, it can jeopardize something.
So maybe real professionalism
is remaining open to new ideas and input no matter what level of experience you
have.
Remaining humble is important
for good ethics
Related to power of
embarrassment, being good at something includes being humble, consulting
others, asking opinions, suggestions etc.
Lowering yourself to
communication with patients is an act of being humble. To try to empathies with their pain.
