A room filled with intelligent, 4.0 GPA bearing, pre-med undergraduates, who anxiously awaited their guest speaker. I was distinctly the odd one out, a freshmen psychology major taking notes for a core class, at an MCAT club group lecture on bioethics. All of the students in the room nervously discussed practice tests and medical school applications. The speaker, Dr. Alexander, an ex-reproductive endocrinologist came to address the future doctors of the ethical decisions they will be faced with as they furthered their careers in the medical field.
By establishing his status as a former medical practitioner he had the audience’s undivided attention before even stepping in the room. The two letters “Dr.” preceding his name drew in an audience invested in medicine. The members were already accustomed to the hard-working lifestyles of doctors. However they, much like me, were not aware of the ethical battles faced that Dr. Alexander described to us. His use of persuasive language forced us to become aware of these issues. He argued to us that doctor’s need more than medical knowledge; they also need to be experts on ethical issues. His previous experiences in the medical field provided him with credentials to earn the immediate respect of the undergraduate students. Being that he had already been through many of the situations he described to us gave him an experienced perspective to talk from. Dr. Alexander provided the necessary information to prepare a medical student for a career as a doctor. With his prior knowledge he provided concrete examples faced by many on a daily basis.
Another way that Dr. Alexander drew in his audience was through setting the stage for doctor’s ethical battles by introducing the basic principles of ethics. By presenting a basic foundation of what ethics were it struck up a thought process in the audiences mind. He explained that ethics are a part of our unconscious everyday lives. By bringing our attention to the little things that we do everyday, such as holding the door open for the person behind us, the audience was able to make a connection. This connection was the one between the unconscious and consciousness ethical choices we make everyday. Without making this transition clear to us we would not have been able to place ourselves in the shoes of a doctor. An example of an unconscious ethical choice is doing something that is inherent within us. Conscious ethical choices are much harder to make and involve a considerable amount of time and attention. By relating our everyday decision making to an ethical battle regarding a patients life it made a realistic bridge for the audience to cross.
Once we were in the mindset of a doctor, the speaker presented these individual ethical issues and asked the audience to place themselves in the shoes of the physicians required to make these tough decisions. This persuasive speech brought a famous quote to mind, “Don’t criticize anyone until you’ve walked a mile in his or her shoes.” As spectators we are so quick to judge doctors who, in one of his examples, unreasonably contacted the Child Protective Services. From the outside, people may fell that is ridiculous or unnecessary. However, from the perspective of a doctor he may be saving someone’s life and merely following what is asked of him in his job description. By establishing the unapparent connection between everyday choices and those of doctors the audience almost made a transformation right in front of Dr. Alexander’s eyes. Being able to analyze situations as a doctor forced us to form a deeper connection with the problems they face and have a personal outlook on what we would choose to do. This allowed the audience to see firsthand whether this was something they would be capable of doing long term. By doing this, the medical students had a perfect example of if they wanted to continue in their field of study.
No comments:
Post a Comment