Foucault on the Wards: Rediscovering Reflection as a Social Pediatrician in Training. (15th October 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Maynard, Kevin
• Is Part Of: Academic medicine. Volume 95:Number 4(2020)
• Publication Date: 2019-10-15
• Subjects: Medical education -- Periodicals; Medical policy -- Periodicals; Medical personnel -- Periodicals; Periodicals; 610.711
• DOI: 10.1097/ACM.0000000000003042
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1040-2446

Abstract

Abstract : The author states that as a second-year medical student with a liberal arts degree, it is often difficult for him to reconcile his former education with the current demands of his training. Although the medical curriculum acknowledges the importance of a biopsychosocial model, the prioritization of knowledge remains the same: know your biological, pharmacological, and anatomical facts. However, the author's experience with a social pediatrics research summer studentship moved him beyond this basic sciences mindset and provided a practical framework for the application of his liberal arts training. The experience was twofold: he worked on a research project while simultaneously shadowing a pediatrician twice a week. His project applied a Foucauldian critical discourse analysis to an archive of texts that sought to better characterize the term social pediatrics. The author concludes that the thought-changing reflection, mentorship, and concrete clinical experiences made possible by the summer studentship expanded his worldview.