I recently read an article that stimulated some thinking that is not part of my usual day-to-day thought processes. The article, “Can students handle the big questions?” was about a philosophy course at Notre Dame that encourages students to think about things like “How do you decide what to believe?”, “What do you think your moral obligations are?”, and “What will it take for your life to have mattered?”
I started thinking about how these questions, which really are part of everyone’s life, often get pushed aside because we are too busy studying for the next exam, writing the next manuscript, or, in my case, leading a complex organization. As health care providers, these questions in many ways are more important for us to wrestle with.
I began to think back on my entry into health care delivery. I was a young graduate nurse, only 19, when I began taking care of patients at the Hospital of St. Raphael in New Haven, CT. As a new nurse, I had little life experience that I could use to reconcile the challenges patients and their families were experiencing. I had to grapple with the complex questions that most of us in health care have to grapple with, such as “How can I help this patient and his family as they experience death?”, “What can I do for parents who are watching their child suffer through the pain of treatment?”, and “How can I make a difference in this patient’s life?”
Allowing myself to contemplate these questions and others as a I grew into a health care professional was an important part of my development and has shaped how I see my place in the world today. Unlike the students in the Notre Dame course, I didn’t learn this in my nursing education; rather, I believe it came with the territory of being a health care provider.
I began to think about how the members of the Class of 2019 are reconciling these questions for themselves. I know the rigor of the IHP curriculum and the commitment of our students to excellence. Studying, writing, and clinical practice often takes precedence over reflection, contemplation, and deep thought. But as health care providers, our new graduates will be facing complex and emotionally challenging situations on almost a daily basis. How are they going to know what they believe? How are they going to decide what their moral obligation is in a certain situation? How are they going to construct their life in a way that truly matters? The article’s author suggests that asking these questions, wrestling with the answers, and letting reason take us to unexpected places will help us grow in our thinking about big issues.
As a health care provider, it’s not if you will face a complex issue that will have moral consequences, it’s when and how often. I encourage our new graduates to take time to reflect on these “big questions” as you approach starting your careers. For all of us in the IHP community, taking a moment to reflect on these important issues may help us get to our better self.