It was interesting listening to the latest webinar discussion of the IMA conference, and hearing that one of the components of the four pillars of change will be getting doctors to be more on an even level with their patients, rather than the frequent existing degrees of patronizing-ness.
That may be one of the tougher challenges. I well remember being involved in the early introduction of universal laptops in Maine schools back in the early 2000’s. It was a ground-breaking effort enabled by then-governor Angus King (not so great now) and led by the visionary Dr. Seymour Papert of MIT., based on successes in other places (Australia, Costa Rica).
The idea was to use computers and the internet to change the teacher/student relationship from “sage on the stage” to “guide on the side.” We were all full of optimism as we prepared the materials that would be used for teacher training, at a time when students were already ahead of teachers in use of technology. The result, in terms of Papert’s dream — of students freed by access to the internet to become self-guided learners — was an abject failure. In the training sessions, the teachers just couldn’t let go of control, of changing the basic paradigm in which they’d been trained, and in which they operated.
It was a great disappointment at the time. I’m not trying to blame the teachers, but only to recognize a dynamic that may have resonance with the idea of getting doctors (particularly those entrapped in corporate limitations) to free themselves from institutionalized ways of relating to patients.