What MNF fiasco tells us about character

I have been interviewing medical students and resident physicians for positions at my institution for a couple of years now. One thing I always like to look for in applicants is GRIT! When you get knocked down how do you respond? The MNF officiating fiasco (and how folks respond to officials in general) can open a door into one's personality.

Lost in translation: What the presenter's response really means at Grand Rounds

In the heat of an election we are constantly bombarded with "spin." But "spin" along with "evasion" are everywhere and anyone who has been to a scientific meeting, a grand rounds, or just a simple town hall Q&A has probably witnessed such tactics at play between presenter and audience. We are so accustomed to it though that we don't really think twice because we have learned to translate certain responses. In sports, for example, the post game press conference is where a player or coach serves up certain cliches for the media. New England Patriots Head Coach, Bill Belichick is notorious for this.

I was recently inspired by a sports talk show segment and a conversation I had with some peers about what is really meant by certain presenter responses. Sometimes people try to evade questions when they don't know or want to hide something. Thats fine. We have all done it too and for a variety of reasons: don't know answer, don't want to disclose specific information, protect 3rd parties, etc.

As a result, I have decided to translate such presenter responses from my experience as both audience member and presenter. This is meant purely for entertainment purposes. Note: 

Most of these are actual responses and some are actual TYPES of responses. Also the "TRANSLATIONS" are from the presenter's perspective

Onward after the jump

Paging Dr. Manners STAT to L & D: A guide for physicians and medical students

This blog has achieved 600 hits in a just over a week. In order to keep that momentum going, we are firing up another Dr. Manners post. It has quickly become apparent that there is a humorless void regarding residency, particularly in OBGYN, that we hope to fill.

Last week, we reviewed the decorum that can maximize the working/learning/teaching environment in the operating room. And just the other day, our guide to signout/handoff styles got some attention, so it got us thinking about doing a Dr. Manners guide for Labor and Delivery, possibly one of the most exciting and much-anticipated rotations in medical school. OBGYN rotations are usually spoofed magnificently at medical school class skits, but we digress.

I can remember being introduced to the concept of professionalism as a medical student and it quickly became apparent that it was becoming more and more of an issue because "how-one-should-act" on the wards was up to the examples set by the team the student was on.

Professionalism should not be taught to medical students/residents like a parent talking down to a child because lectures on professionalism quickly become "how-to-behave" lectures that quickly turn people off.

The purpose of Dr Manners is to provide a new paradigm, using humor and our collective real life experiences as medical student, resident and fellow to teach professionalism.

This week we break down what Blueprints OBGYN (mehh), First Aid OBGYN (not bad, decent for step 2/3), and CaseFiles Obstetrics and Gynecology (my favorite) fail to give advice on: professionalism (aka how-to-avoid-awkward-moments) on Labor and Delivery.

Please note that this is for Physicians of all levels too: residents, fellows, attendings, staff MDs, etc...and while the examples given below may be relevant for academic settings, just like the OR post, anyone who works on labor and delivery will appreciate the advice given here. Hit the jump for the guide on handling yourself on Labor and Delivery.