[Dysphagia] I am fed up

[hillivie423 at adelphia.net (hillivie423 at adelphia.net)]

Well said, Pam!
---- lobsterpam at aol.com wrote: 
>   This isn't directed at the 'introductory course' topic specifically, but is a more global comment simply offered for consideration. My thoughts on the introductory course is that if someone needs the training, go get it. But recognize the larger less personal point that dysphagia education in our profession in general needs work. Those of us in universities know that and are we working hard to improve it. The ASHA Knowledge and Skills documents speak for themselves, and Division 13 has many excellent resources available for members. 
>  
>  That said, I think it's very unhealthy for professionals - or members of a professional discussion lists - to stop questioning the practices of the profession. NO profession improves unless it is constantly examining itself. The whole concept of evidence based practice requires continual objective evaluation of the evidence supposedly supporting what we do. If list serve participants only wish to support each other with "atta boy!" comments, no one grows as a professional. Would we rather have an attorney ask some of the questions that are asked here? How do you feel when a smart and savvy family member questions what you are doing? Or when a physician won't order your services? In the litigious society in which we find ourselves, it's best we get used to people asking us the "why" questions about our field, and be prepared to state objectively and from an evidence base - not defensively - why we are doing what we are doing. 
>  
>  The management of patients with dysphagia is a multidisciplinary field, and any SLP who believes he or she can do it himself/herself has a lot of reading to do and additional academic degrees to obtain. A discussion list that welcomes the contributions of other professionals only helps us to appreciate what these other professionals know. If we are intimidated by that, nothing is gained by telling these people to get out of our sandbox. Have the people who find themselves angry ever located and read the information Irene has posted? A number of years ago I argued openly on this list with Irene, and her tone was directed right at me, and of course I didn't appreciate it. Then I finally read the literature that was posted (Irene was the first one who I had ever heard of mentioning the contribution of reflux or oral secretions to pneumonia, and I'd been practicing for close to 10 years at that point.) 
>  
>  Individuals have their own manner of conveying their thoughts; some people just don't sugarcoat things. The written word doesn't provide the complete pragmatic. That's a limitation of email communication and it needs to be accepted if one is going to use this medium. Sure, people could be nicer, but I remember a colleague who could be nicer, too. It's a shame if people choose not to interact because of personality differences. Wasn't it Eleanor Roosevelt who said no one can make you feel inferior without your consent? Anyway, eventually I realized that my angst wasn't really about Irene. It was easy to blame this person who was faceless and only showed up in my email inbox with abstracts that showed she had a lot of information at her fingertips that I didn't have, and who wrote things in a way that made me realize that I was missing some very basic information that I SHOULD know. There are and were choices here - to get angry and defensive, or to suck it up and learn thing!
>  s. My issues were that I knew practically nothing about lab values, dietary requirements, respiratory physiology or infectious diseases, and yet here I was working with patients with these very problems. My issues were coming to terms with the fact that some of the interventions I had been doing for years had the potential to do as much harm as the underlying problem I was trying to help. 
>  
>  Whenever students ask me about why practices are so inconsistent, and why they must continue to read research and understand evidence when they are finished with school, I tell them that not so many hundred years ago, doctors used to bleed people to cure them of disease, and that's what killed George Washington. Someone questioned the practice, and someone had to be the first to suggest that maybe bloodletting wasn't the best way to go. 
>  
>  Working in health care requires a knowledge base, an inquisitive open mind, access to information, and a thick skin.
>  
>  Pam Smith, Ph.D.
>  Bloomsburg University
>  Bloomsburg, PA
>  
>     
>  -----Original Message-----
>  From: cohoe at uci.net
>  To: vickycox at yahoo.ca; dysphagia at b9.com
>  Sent: Wed, 7 Mar 2007 11:52 PM
>  Subject: Re: [Dysphagia] I am fed up
>  
>   I vote for a kindler, gentler listserve as well.  Can we stop wit the
> questioning of others and simply be supportive?  If we fear posting for the
> ridicule of one member we allow her to win.  Let's ask those beginner
> questions and let's advertise those courses.  This listserve is for SLP's;
> let's take it back.
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: dysphagia-bounces at b9.com [mailto:dysphagia-bounces at b9.com] On Behalf
> Of Vicky Cox
> Sent: Wednesday, March 07, 2007 7:42 PM
> To: dysphagia at b9.com
> Subject: [Dysphagia] I am fed up
> 
> Hello all,
> 
>   I am an SLP and proud to say that I am attending "beginner" workshops even
> though I have been practising for a long time. I suppose I never think I am
> a perfect SLP, and guess what, I may even learn something from the new
> grads, who as someone put it, should already know everything form their
> masters program.
> 
>   I posted a question a few years back when I was a new grad, and a
> particular person posted a reply and made me look like a total idiot (the
> same person who normally does this). I feel saddened to say that I have been
> afraid of posting since then. But reading all of these replies, I am glad
> that others can see how toxic this list serve can be.
> 
>   Its a shame really, because there are some really great SLPs who post here
> (all in fact), and I am sorry I had such a bad experience in the past.
> 
>   Thanks,
>   Vicky
> 
> 
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