Families In Resident/Student Teaching
How
Does It Work?
While medical school graduates
bring an array of technical skills and medical expertise to their residency
training, many of them have had little instruction in the attitudes and
behaviors that patients and families value most. FIRST families are able
to provide concrete examples of effective help-giving behaviors. Through
a series of home visits (with the same family) residents learn firsthand
about family concerns, priorities and expectations for care. Because these
interactions occur outside of a hospital setting, and during a time when
most children are medically stable, parents are able to share their experiences
in an instructive and very candid fashion. This differs dramatically from
the fast-paced hospital or outpatient setting where residency training
usually takes place.
Families meet twice each year with their resident. While the visits are very unstructured and quite different from one family to another, families maintain focus by following a rough agenda that highlights specific points to be made during the course of the evening. Following the home visits residents attend individual or small group tutorials conducted by project staff and a local pediatrician.
Are
Families Specially Trained?
Participating families
are asked to make a two-year commitment to the program. They attend an
orientation session where they are encouraged to reflect on their own individual
experiences with the health and education system and to develop a way of
telling their story in a style that will be instructive to the resident.
While each family story is different, there are often common themes that
highlight the importance of mutual respect, open communication, honesty,
full disclosure of information, empathy and a willingness to recognize
the family as an equal partner in caring for the child with special health
needs. They are called our Family Faculty.
For more information please call or email Nancy Abernathey at Parent to Parent (802)764-5290
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| Project Goals
To
increase pediatric residents’ knowledge base of medical, social, educational
and community-wide issues that impact children with special needs and their
families
To improve pediatric residents’ ability to provide family centered care
To provide residents with an understanding of “health, not as an absence
of disease, but rather as a process by which individuals manage their lives
and make them meaningful in the face of physical and other challenges.”
To provide support to families as they work in partnership with physicians
in obtaining quality care for their child.
To improve and enhance pediatric residents’ skills in communication and
collaboration
To increase opportunities for residents to experience working with families
in non-clinical settings.
To develop familiarity with local, state and national resources and supports
for children with special needs and their families
