Just finished a convo about medical errors. It reminded me of my first real mistake. Thankfully, I was surrounded by a community that helped me learn from it without falling into shame. Culture is SO important for preventing & processing errors. I even wrote this to normalize it: 
Many don’t have a “good” mistake experience. I was involved in a different situation where learners were blamed instead of taught. I asked an intern to do something that turned out to be incorrect. Our supervisor yelled at the intern w/o acknowledging that they were my directions
I could have done nothing and let the intern take the rap, but that is the literal opposite of my character. I also had concerns about how the supervisor was managing the team. The interns were afraid to speak up about plans out of fear of embarrassment. My team’s morale dropped
So I pulled them aside. I asked if we could discuss how things were going. We agreed on a private, quiet, uninterrupted time and space (feedback 101). I shared with them concrete examples of what I saw and the harm it had on those involved. I didn’t make assumptions about intent
I assumed they wanted to be a great teacher/manager & informed them that their approach was not fostering a healthy learning environment for the team. I even put myself out there by acknowledging my error and expressing that their response encouraged shame in making mistakes
By depersonalizing my feedback, they were better able to receive it and seemed to hear my concerns. This conversation stands as one of the highlights of my residency experience. We can and need to talk about errors and the culture around them that either promotes harm or healing.
To anyone supervising trainees, I think your greatest role is an “umbrella”, protection for them from the onslaught of challenges during the day. Its stressful doing the work and worrying if your voice matters if you try to speak up. Please be their advocate. Amplify their voice.
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