My Interest to Pursue this Doctor of Philosophy Degree - Essay Example

Personal Reflection and Purpose Pre-residency Currently, there is an increased need for healthcare in the world than any other time due to the increasing human population and increased incidences of serious health conditions. These factors have also increased the frequency of surgical operations done in various healthcare institutions at any particular period. My interest to pursue this PhD arose from my desire to participate in saving lives by enhancing the efficiency of operating rooms (OR) and providing adequate support to surgical teams so as enhance patient experience before, during and after their operations. I do not only desire to achieve this in Children’s Medical Center in Dallas Texas, my current place of practice, but across the entire health care system. I therefore purpose to achieve this by teaching on the same upon my completion of this degree and in this way, I will help to develop reliable team of OR directors. My purpose of pursuing this PhD is to maximize the efficiency of operating rooms and provide better guidance, direction, and support to assist surgical teams in the delivery of quality care to patients during their perioperative period. Some of the academic influences that shaped my thinking regarding my field of study include scholars and articles advocating for patient safety in the operating rooms. The Health Forum (2010) identifies one of them as having the right culture and this to me should be the foundation of good OR management. My other influence is successful professionals in this field such as OR directors in big hospitals like Beth Israel Medical Center, one of the 50 largest hospitals in America. Through proper OR management, the hospital has been able to handle one of the highest number of complicated surgeries and Jaimie (2010) points out that the hospital has even received awards for spine and orthopaedic surgeries. I am highly prepared for my field of study because of my experience in the field. I have been practicing as an Operating Room Director at Children’s Medical Center in Dallas Texas and therefore I feel that I am already knowledgeable in the field. However, I need an improvement of this to enhance my performance. Some of the professional and personal contexts I bring to the course of study include my experiences at Children’s Medical Center. I have been practicing in the hospital as an Operating Room Director and therefore most of my work and experiences in the medical center have been directly related to my profession. I expect these contexts to help me in learning this field of study because they have helped to develop a set of goals in relation to my profession. I therefore aim at maximizing my PhD studies in to achieve this set of goals. There are very low chances that these contexts will limit my learning. However, I must acknowledge that they can limit my learning of professional concepts that do not seem to be directly in line with my set of goals. My professional and personal contexts have greatly helped in shaping my identity by challenging my practice in the field of OR management. These challenges have made me to always aim at finding ways to increase the efficiency of ORs at the Children’s Medical Center. In addition, they have challenged me undertake professional development in order to provide better guidance, direction, and support to the hospital’s surgical teams so that they can delivery of quality care to patients during operations as well as their pre- and postoperative visits. All these have improved my performance and thus shaped my identity over the period I have been practicing in the Medical Center. So far, I am one of the best OR directors the Center has ever had. Some of the outcomes I anticipate from completing this degree program include improved operational decision making that will be applied in improving OR efficiency and enhanced ability to deliver required support to surgical teams. A combination of these two outcomes will be very instrumental in increasing patient safety and patient outcomes. I have several aspirations for this program. These are improved ability to get existing cases done, providing surgical teams with enhanced access to OR so that operations can be done in a timely manner and decreasing patient delays. My other aspirations include enhanced ability to maximize the efficiency of staff, materials and the utilization of the operation room. All these aspirations are aimed at reducing patient mortality, increasing satisfaction among patients and their families and surgical staffs as well as facilitating the offering of operation services at lower but profitable prices. These require that I refine some areas in my professional practice. The main area I would you like to refine is how maximize the quantity of surgical cases handled each day while minimizing the related costs and required resources. Others include how to adjust OR staffing, schedule cases based on the efficiency of the OR and how to release and allocate which was already allocated OR but was unused. Enhanced scholarship, practice, and leadership capacities are going to augment my personal and professional life and the lives of others my work affects by improving my performance as an OR director and thus the performance of ORs and their teams. My professional goals for undertaking these studies align with the mission of School of Advanced Studies. For example, I aim improving my ability to apply critical thinking to improve the performance of ORs so that they can produce at higher levels with minimum the resources. This is in line with the School of Advanced Studies mission as spelled out by Jackson (2010). After this program, I expect my life to be affected positively. For example, it will not only enhance my ability to perform as an OR but also my marketability as a professional. This program might therefore shape my future by increasing my level and areas of professional practice to include areas like teaching students undertaking studies in OR management and other related courses. After my studies in this field, I will use my leaning to contribute to my existing communities by facilitating improved efficiency of ORs and thus increasing their profitability while holding patient safety constant and improving the outcomes of patients, and surgical teams. After this program, I am likely to join a university offering undergraduate and postgraduate studies in OR management and teach on the same. I am likely to gain more and lose very less because of this program. One of the things I might lose is my current job. However, there are also chances that they would want me back after the studies. Other things I will gain include increased marketability as an OR director and increased chances of being absorbed into other communities like universities. I therefore look forward to undertaking this program both for personal as well as professional ambitions. References Health Forum. Patient Safety in the Operating Room. Online: http://www.hhnmag.com/hhnmag_app/jsp/articledisplay.jsp?dcrpath=HHNMAG/Article/data/03MAR2007/0703HHN_FEA_Gatefold&domain=HHNMAG. Viewed on 28th, November, 2011. Jackson, A. (2010). University of Phoenix’s School of Advanced Studies: Focusing on a Collaborative and Interdisciplinary Doctoral Experience. Online: https://www.phoenix.edu/uopx-knowledge-network/articles/case-studies/uopx-school-advanced-studies-focusing-collaborative-interdisciplinary-doctoral-experience.html. Viewed on 28th, November, 2011. Jaimie, O. (2010). 50 largest Hospitals in America. “50 Largest Hospitals in America.” http://www.beckershospitalreview.com/lists/50-largest-hospitals-in-america.html. Viewed on 28th, November, 2011. Read More