By Sheri-Lee Norris/ campus editor
Aspiring health care professionals need to know more than what they read in their books or learn by working with machines. They need soft skills.
TR’s health care professions dean Joseph Cameron believes TCC has “both a moral and ethical responsibility to train those values not necessarily spelled out in books.”
Cameron refers to the necessity for students to learn how to approach different types of patients as caregivers as well as to deal with their families and interact with others in the health care industry outside their specialty.
“All students need to better develop soft skills if they wish to advance in their specialties,” he said.
To that end, TRE launched The River Speaks health care lecture series Nov. 18, bringing TR students together with career and other educational partners.
Chancellor Eugene Giovannini’s brief welcoming remarks encouraged everyone to look at rapid developments in health care.
“The top 10 jobs most prevalent today did not exist in the year 2002,” he said. “Furthermore, projections for jobs out into 2030 indicate that seven of the top 10 jobs don’t even exist yet, and half of them will be in robotics.”
Medical professionals should be prepared for this rapidly evolving pace.
Dr. Joshua Gatson from UT Southwestern Medical Center discussed his research on traumatic brain injury and implications for health care professionals.
“Head injuries date back before recorded history as evidenced from skulls found in ancient graves,” he said.
His current research focuses on identifying key elements in a head injury, utilizing blood samples and medical imaging.
Gaston said he hopes to predict the best prognosis with greater accuracy and is working on adaptive treatments for brain injury. All previous drug tests have failed.
Gatson has worked with athletes and continues research in the sports field, including football, particularly due to head injuries suffered by players. Some propose a return to the soft leather helmets of players, but the helmet may not matter.
“It’s still a fast, hard game,” he said. “And their brains are still going to get jolted no matter how hard the shell is that protects the skull,” he said.
His work has numerous financial supporters, including the Defense Department, as implications for fast identification and appropriate treatment have great significance for the military.
Students later attended breakout sessions with external health care partners Texas Christian University, Healthy Lives Matter Initiative, MS-Alzheimer’s Association, Bentwood Healthcare and the Tarrant County Public Health department.
