Health manpower vs. mindpower

Abstract

Applying mindpower to health care means planning. We can no longer afford to "guesstimate" ratios of assistants and aides to physicians, dietitians, therapists, or technologists. Mindpower also means education: First, of the consumer of our services, the patient (he must see that the health care team is made up of some two hundred occupations, not just of physician and nurse); then of our future health professionals (here the competent performance of certain tasks takes precedence over what is called "general" education). Although the recent knowledge explosion has stretched the curriculum considerably, a "professional degree" may yet mean more than a graduate degree. Mindpower is communication, cooperation, and collaboration on the job. It means being adaptable in emergencies, cutting out jealousy and pettiness, relying on preventive efforts, finding strength in unity.