Misconception
The one misconception that my some of my students have is that they think the communication course is unnecessary. They think that it is a waste of their time, and their time can be used better in other discipline-specific courses instead. Most of us, nowadays, lack the basic verbal communication skills we need to interact with each other, not to mention communication within professional environments like hospitals or labs, thanks to the convenience of technology, which allows us to communicate without the need for direct verbal interaction. Students think interaction is at a minimum while working in a lab, however, they do not realize of the extensive collaboration that occurs between colleagues, doctors, nurses, pathologists, microbiologists, couriers, janitors, maintenance workers and others within a lab environment. Our job as educators is to educate students that communication is of utmost importance as lab technologists. With the aid of communication tools, we will be able to assist students to communicate professionally and effectively in a lab setting.
I use the analogy of communication between a smart phone, a smart watch, a speaker, and a car. Each device must be able to communicate with each other in a language they all understand to be able to carry out the task (play music in the car using Bluetooth) effectively and seamlessly. If there is disconnection in one of the devices, there will be no music playing in the car or the speaker through Bluetooth, or there will be music, but it will not be the music that was ideally selected to be played from the smartphone using Bluetooth. In a lab environment, lab technologists, doctors and nurses communicate with each other professionally and effectively, much like the smart devices. If there is misunderstanding between any of the hospital professionals, e.g. the lab tech and the nurse, the message will be not effectively conveyed to the doctor. This could result in delays in patient treatment or the prescription of the wrong medication. This situation is akin to the disconnection between devices, where the selected music cannot be played from a smartphone through Bluetooth.
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