Surgical Services
Surgery and Aviation: The Common Link
What does flying a plane and performing a surgery have in common? You may think, "Nothing at all." However, a unique program is demonstrating how close a relationship the two may have.
Harry Sax, MD, surgeon-in-chief at The Miriam Hospital and professor of surgery at Brown Medical School has introduced, for the first time in Rhode Island, a program that allows pilots and physicians to collaborate.
This program is entitled
“Lessons from the Cockpit: What Aviation Can Teach Medicine About Team Building and Patient Safety.” It discusses the similar occupational relationship between surgeons and pilots, and demonstrates what surgeons can learn from aviation.
Sax believes that stress, communication errors, and a culture of blame can lead to decreased morale and increased risk of errors among medical professionals. The aviation community has dealt with similar issues and has developed techniques to optimize team performance, reduce errors and improve the workplace environment. Sax asserts that surgeons can further strengthen their expertise by learning from these techniques.
In this unique interactive program, team members actively participate in aviation style “Crew Resource Management” training, leading to enhanced performance and professional satisfaction. Audience participation includes group exercises, discussions and team building concepts.
At the end of this program, participants should be able to describe the process by which medical errors occur and identify methods to reduce them, demonstrate effective communication skills and techniques among team members, as well as illustrate team situational awareness through the use of briefings, debriefings and checklists, all of which will lead to better patient care and safety.
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