What would you do?

As many of you know, watching live television is generally not much of an option for athletic trainers. My husband (also an athletic trainer) and I have reverted to our old favorites on DVD and ‘ER’ is the current choice. Just the other night we were watching an early episode that focused on the hospital being a ‘teaching hospital.’ As a teaching focused medical center, monthly or weekly the resident physicians would all gather with the chief attending and discuss cases. To begin a resident physician would present the case and how they treated the patient, then the question was asked to the rest of the group, "What would you do?" As you can imagine some of the physicians were defensive but at the end of the day everyone was able to learn from each situation.

I know that our profession is improving in sharing and discussing different topics and situations especially through the message boards, blogs and published case studies, but I wonder, how often do you sit down with your fellow colleagues and ask,

“What would you do?”

And are you prepared for an answer that is completely different that yours?

By allowing discussion we can all grow, as students we often read and presented case studies, after only 3 years in the profession on my own, I have noticed that I have fallen out of the practice of asking another athletic trainer about their ideas or other innovative ways to do something. It is difficult for me to have someone critique the care that I chose to provide for a patient but I firmly believe that by continually learning, and sharing and asking for critique we can ensure that the best care is given.

So I would like to ask if there are any of you that as a group of professionals regularly present cases and discuss different treatment options and if this is a positive model for athletic trainers?