The Unexpected Gifts of a Teaching Hospital

Henry had surgery again ten days ago. This was a follow-up to his surgery last May. His breastbone did not heal/fuse back together, so the surgeon inserted some plates to hold the two sides together. He is home and recovering, and today I want to reflect on the unexpected gifts that came to us during his last day at Banner Medical Center.

I hadn’t thought much before about what it means to be cared for in a teaching hospital. We had a few medical and nursing students shadowing Henry’s team members last year, so I thought that was the extent of student/patient interaction. However, this year Henry recovered in a step-down unit rather than intensive care—and the experience was quite different.

For example, someone knocked on Henry’s door and asked if he would be willing to be interviewed by a first-year medical student. These students are learning how to conduct patient interviews: getting medical history, determining important details about a presenting problem, and conducting a basic physical exam. Henry said yes, so a young man came and interviewed him—and me, accompanied by his teacher. It was an interesting and informative hour, and I learned a few things about how they are teaching students and about the importance of getting to the “why” behind medical symptoms.

Then, someone studying public health came by to ask if we’d be willing to look at an informational flyer and give him some feedback on it. Of course, as an editor, I had to take a look. I was able to offer him a couple of suggestions to improve it, including defining an acronym that he took for granted.

Finally, another person appeared who represented a large, long-term research study connected with the National Institutes of Health. The program, called All of Us, seeks to create a database of at least a million people in order for researchers to have access to much larger and more diverse medical data. The goal is to be able to tailor treatments to individuals (“precision medicine”), rather than thinking one solution works in all circumstances.

As a woman who’s been told, for example, that steroids are the right treatment (when for women, they often come with significant adverse side effects), I believe this is a very important project. If you want to learn more, check out their website and consider getting involved. It’s all confidential and there are no prerequisites (other than living in the US). I look forward to seeing how this work might improve care for all sorts of people—especially (slipping on my racial-equity glasses) those less privileged than I am.

Honestly, I thought I would spend my days with Henry in this teaching hospital reading, editing, and maybe resting. But I couldn’t concentrate enough to edit, and the various stresses of the experience were more exhausting than I expected. It was surprisingly helpful for me to be able to focus on helping these students and thinking about their work—and the future—for a while.

Please check out and consider joining All of Us. Please also say a prayer for (or send good energy to) all those who will be engaging with students in teaching hospital rooms across the nation in the days and weeks ahead.