{"id":130254,"date":"2025-02-04T15:50:06","date_gmt":"2025-02-04T20:50:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/?post_type=bu-article&p=130254"},"modified":"2025-06-11T10:50:02","modified_gmt":"2025-06-11T14:50:02","slug":"medical-students-experience-life-on-the-other-side-of-the-bed","status":"publish","type":"bu-article","link":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/medicine\/articles\/2025\/medical-students-experience-life-on-the-other-side-of-the-bed\/","title":{"rendered":"Medical Students Experience Life on the Other Side of the Bed"},"content":{"rendered":"\t
\n\t\t
\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\"Second-year\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Second-year med student Jackson Wallner talks with retired Army drill sergeant Robert \u201cRick\u201d Jones.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t

\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCampus News<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMedical Students Experience Life on the Other Side of the Bed\u00a0\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Innovative program helps medical students understand the vital collaboration and communication between physicians and nurses.<\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n
\n\t
\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t0<\/span><\/span><\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
\n\t\t\tTwitter<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\tFacebook<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\n\n\n

VA Vascular Access Nurse Kassidy Dias, RN, gently taps her forefinger on the blue vein in the arm of Vietnam War Army Veteran David Preston. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFeel the bounce? That\u2019s perfect,\u201d Dias tells second-year medical student Juan Guerrero as he prepares to draw blood from Preston, a former sergeant in the 101st Airborne. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guerrero is one of five second-year medical students from BU, along with a student from Harvard and another from Tulane, working on wards at the West Roxbury VA Medical Center, training in an innovative program known as The Other Side of the Bed. The six-week summer program, which began in 2009, has medical students undertaking many of the routine patient care tasks typically performed by the nursing staff. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur goal is to increase physician\/nurse collaboration by helping medical students understand the role of nursing and the skills that nurses bring to healthcare,\u201d says Cecilia McVey, MHA, RN, FAAN, associate director of nursing and patient care services at VA Boston Healthcare System. She estimates that more than 200 medical students have participated over the past 15 years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout my first year [in medical school], I was afraid of having too much physical contact [with patients], too afraid of invading their privacy. It\u2019s a hard line to walk, in how to provide hands-on care while still respecting their privacy and sense of personhood<\/p>Rachel Kim <\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The program addresses what numerous studies have found: that an uneven power dynamic and issues around professional respect between doctors and nurses hinder collaboration, teamwork, and patient care. VA Boston Chief of Staff Michael Charness, MD, believes the increased use of technology has exacerbated the problem. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think that as healthcare and medical education have evolved it\u2019s harder for the different members of the team to understand and appreciate the skills each profession brings. And I think patient care can suffer from insufficient collaboration and communication,\u201d says Charness. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n
\"Rachel
Rachel Kim is one of five second-year BU medical students participating in The Other Side of the Bed program on the wards at the West Roxbury VA Medical Center.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"Second-year
Second-year med student Douglass Bryant, working under supervision of vascular access nurse Kassidy Dias, RN, flushes an IV line of Army veteran Robert McAllister.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Second-year
Second-year med student Juan Guerrero discusses recovery from a severe hand injury with former Navy rescue swimmer Joey Gupin.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI watch physicians as they are coming in for an hour, a half-hour, sometimes less, talking to patients, but there is a big difference being on the floor and being with patients the whole time,\u201d says second-year medical student Rachel Kim. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kim says nurses are continually asked to expand their responsibilities. On one of her first days on the ward, she watched a nurse juggle her patient load while taking time to accompany a veteran desperate for a walk, but who was a fall risk navigating with a walker while trailing an IV pole. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When a patient rapidly deteriorated and prognosis went from recovery to palliative care, Kim noticed nurses making careful observations of the changes. Although unconscious, the patient appeared to be experiencing pain. When the resident came on to the ward, Kim noted that he first turned to the nursing staff to ask what they had observed and what they thought should be done. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was the first time I saw one of the physicians take the time to get the full story from the nurses,\u201d says Kim. \u201cI saw that, and I said \u2018okay, this is what I want to keep with me and emulate as I move forward in my training.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n