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I was perusing the New York Times this morning and found this article to be very interesting: http://nyti.ms/9Jdv3r. The topic that struck me the most was the concept of “ownership” for a school and the success of its students; if teachers were also administrators, they would be more invested in how the students performed. Thinking about my future as a physician, this is a concept that intrigues me. If a physician owns their practice privately, do their patients do better than the patients of a physician whose practice is owned by the hospital? I don’t know the answer to these questions, but I can’t help but think that there is a big piece of the picture that’s missing from both of these scenarios—what the students and patients do outside of school or the doctor’s office that leads to their success or, perhaps, lack thereof. Ultimately, if a student (or patient) does not do their homework or follow the instructions of the teacher (or doctor) outside of the classroom, how can they be expected to succeed? Where is the mention of the responsibility of the parent? 

I mentioned in my previous post that my parents were instrumental in my education and success as a student over the years. We had systems of accountability in place and I was not allowed to do the things that I liked to do unless an adult had verified that I had completed my nightly homework. The onus was as much on my parents as my teachers to make sure that I was receiving the help that I needed at home to augment what I was learning during the day. It seems that this arrangement does not exist in the same way that it used to. Parents (and patients) don’t seem to feel as responsible their children’s success in school (or their own health). With national scores markedly down (and with health care costs soaring at all-time highs), perhaps it’s time for a shift towards parents and patients accepting more personal responsibility for their children’s success (and personal health).