Just after receiving their white coats, Ohio University medical students are whisked away to Columbus for a crash course in ethics and professionalism as part of a program between the College of Osteopathic Medicine and the State Medical Board of Ohio.
The partnership, which started in the fall as a pilot program, is aimed at instilling ethical boundaries in first-year medical students and alerting them to the challenges that await them on the other side, said Jack Brose, dean of the college.
Every month, a small group of first-year medical students attends a board meeting where the students observe actions as severe as the revocation of medical licenses. That puts a human face on doctors facing penalties, said Richard Whitehouse, executive director of the state medical board.
Witnessing the disciplinary procedures has afforded unscripted teaching moments from the people in hot water, Brose said.
Physicians are natural-born teachers
Brose said. Even the people who have gotten in trouble will often turn to the students and say 'This is what happened to me and this is how I got into trouble and this is what you need to watch out for.'
To prepare students for the board meeting, Whitehouse and an associate precede the field trip with a video conference where they demystify the legal jargon and explain what students will see, Whitehouse said.
Our concern in inviting them up to these meetings is they would have all the allure of a school board meeting on government TV and so we've tried to prepare them for what they'll be exposed to
Whitehouse said.
Whitehouse and Brose agree strongly about the urgency of forming ethical guidelines in a profession that carries stringent expectations.
If you rely on a drink now and again to take the edge off
if you're late to work
if you miss work
if you've got personality conflicts
what makes you think that's going to change when you've got a license to practice medicine? Whitehouse said.
Though knocking back a few in the uptown bars is certainly a part of the college culture, there are changes in store for those entering the medical vocation, Brose said.
In medical school that is no longer part of the culture
and nobody wants to find out that the physician or medical student who is seeing them is the same guy they saw drunk Uptown on Saturday night
Brose said.
Beyond the goal of increasing awareness of potential pitfalls, the partnership is meant to change the perception of the board as strictly a punitive body so young doctors won't hesitate to seek help before the damage is done, Brose said.
If people understand what the medical board is trying to accomplish
they're more likely to go to the medical board when a situation arises
