Page 29 - Layout 1

FEATURE

How a Pass/Fail Curriculum Has

Changed My Approach to Medicine

By Teresa Samson, OMS-II at UIWSOM

We have all seen it on one medical show or another: A patient in more rankings; no more scores. Just pray a lot, and pass.
despair and unsure of whether or not to move forward with a high- By eliminating the numbers and rankings, having a Pass/Fail cur-
risk, life-saving treatment is quickly assured: “There is no need to riculum has encouraged an atmosphere of authenticity for me. I
worry. This doctor is the best.” It is stated so factually and so con- no longer judge my success (and self-worth, if we are being honest)
fidently, episode after episode. Each time, that sentence rolls off on my numbers, because I never learn what my numbers are. I had
the tongue of the medical team and transforms the atmosphere always dreamed of becoming a renowned physician, but by elimi-
from one of doubt to one of resilience. As a medical student nating the notion that any one person can be the best, this curricu-
watching those moments, it is hard to resist the fantasy that one day lum has guided me toward the encouraging realization that being
I, too, will be… The Best… But will I? What defines “best,” and The Best is not why I wanted to go into medicine in the first place.
how can I reach that standard? My focus has shifted to what makes me My Best, and to me that
In both medical shows and in reality, being The Best often seems means stepping away from my studies every so often and living my
to filter down to two things: skillfulness and intelligence. In medical life through relationships, traveling, and spending time outside
school, we categorize skillfulness and intelligence as measures of under the blazing Texas sun. Pursuing these activities has helped
one’s Competency as a budding doctor. No doubt, these two are me reorient to who I am and what the fullness of my potential looks
important qualities to develop for the day we encounter patients like. It looks a lot different than I had previously thought.
with complicated cases, but are they enough to make us The Best I do still hope to be great one day, but maybe not in a way that
or even a good clinician? separates me out from others. I have learned so much more by
In high school and undergrad, The Best were recognized by their sharing resources among my peers rather than studying alone. I
ability to excel, shown through their rankings, stellar GPAs, honors have seen patients benefit more from a collaborative healthcare team
society memberships, scholarships, and various awards at gradua- than by quick interactions with one physician. Time and again, I
tion. This sifting of the student body to select individuals led me to have found my purpose through service to others rather than by
adopt the mindset that if I wasn’t The Best, I wasn’t good at all. It serving myself.
seemed that there was no worth in being “good enough” nor in Maybe, to be great, or to be The Best (whatever that is), is not a
doing my best, especially if my best wasn’t The Best. quality formed in isolation. Maybe it is something obtained by har-
You can imagine the difficulty in applying this mindset to medical nessing The Best – The Best of all of us – in the practice of healing.
school, where every person has more education, credentials, life ex-
perience, innovation, etc. than the next. There is no way to measure Teresa Samson is a second-year medical student at the UIW School of
up to the people around me. To try to outdo them is an impossible Osteopathic Medicine in San Antonio, Texas, and is a member of the Bexar
task. This is where the Pass/Fail curriculum changes things. No County Medical Society.

visit us at www.bcms.org 29