A few things I have learned (PAL award update)

In this update I would like to highlight some of the things I have learned through taking part in Doc-to-Doctor.

My involvement as chairman of Doc-to-doctor has brought with it positive challenges that I feel have helped me to develop my assertiveness skills.  Looking back to the start of my role as chairman, I can see that I anxiously sought the approval of the other committee members and that in my efforts to project an image of politeness and flexibility I was often left feeling like I lacked control. I now feel that I have gained a much better understanding of what it means to be assertive and can now appreciate the benefits it can bring. I can see that assertiveness isn’t about being “bossy” or “demanding” it is about demonstrating a healthy confidence whereby you are able to communicate your own thoughts whilst respecting those of others. Being direct and honest with people is key to this. I have come to realise that I cannot expect people to read my mind – what might seem obvious to me may not be so obvious to others. I have learned that it is best to keep requests simple and direct and that there is rarely any need for elaborate explanations.  As a result of this my confidence has improved. I feel that I have gained an internal locus of control and that my actions are much less governed by the behaviour of others. This ties in with my realisation of the importance of delegation (see previous blog post). As a result, I feel less stressed because I feel more able to say “no” to requests that would otherwise spread me thin.

When I first took over Doc-to-doctor I don’t think I quite appreciated the breadth of the task. I also drastically underestimated the amount of time that I would need to invest in order to prepare the teaching sessions. Since this all occurred during a very taxing period of exams, it forced me to develop my organisational skills and find more efficient ways of working. I had to learn how to identify goals, plan and prioritise. A technique that I have found helping in achieving this, is the use of “prioritisation grids”. I find they help me to prioritise tasks more quickly and that the simple act of writing things down in an organised manner keeps me from feeling so overwhelmed. I am sure this sort of technique will come in handy when faced with time pressures on the wards during my clinical attachments/future work and they are something that I plan to continue using.

Another thing that I have learned is the importance of flexibility. There have been times were things haven’t gone exactly to plan with the Doc-to-doctor teaching sessions, examples have included: IT issues, problems with room bookings and problems sourcing clinical examination equipment. These things have shown me that when things don’t work, the best thing to do is change your approach and try something different. I have come to realise that a last minute restructure of previous plans doesn’t signify failure. Instead, it demonstrates an ability to keep things moving forward. This has given me a new outlook towards future challenges and I can see that problems need only be a worry if you cannot adapt to them.