Clinicians VS Administrators
In my discipline (Healthcare Administration), most if not all my students already have a bachelor’s degree in healthcare before taking the program. While this allows high level discussions in the classroom, there are some habits or viewpoints that are reasonably carried over to this new discipline which leads to misconceptions. One concept my students in the program frequently misunderstand is how healthcare administrators relate or interact with patients/customers/staff is very different compared to how healthcare practitioners relate to patients/customers/staff.
Even when the difference is explained during class, they would still be in a habit to approach human relations in the administrative setting with the clinical approach in their assessments or discussions. I believe the reason they retain their previous approach is because they don’t really believe that learning how to relate as an administrator is necessary when they can just relate to people the clinical way.
Normally, I would just give my students examples and scenarios depicting the difference between the two approaches and give the reason why it should be done that way, but now I believe that is not really addressing the core issue. This is because, the method only helps them differentiate between the two approaches, and not give them an understanding to why it should be done that way.
To teach the concept better, I should use the analogy of a patient on an IV Drip of money. By using this analogy, I can explain to the students that while Doctors and clinicians are a profession, healthcare is still a business. This means that while they are in the profession of healing, they require the funds generated from treating the patient to continue healing people. Through this analogy, I can better help them understand why they need to learn human relations as an administrator in the healthcare field and not just follow the clinical approach. This being that the administrators act and perform in a way that ensures the healthcare institution can continue its operations, while clinicians act and perform in a way that ensures the patients safety, recovery, and well being. Both are essential in the world of healthcare.
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