Be inspired by the best moments, learn from the worst
Considering that the health-care provider/patient relationship is not contained to the consultation room and has become a subject for discussion in society, the documentary-conference Behind the White Coat aims to draw on diverse societies around the world to expand their thinking.
The health-care provider/patient relationship and its implications in our society
Just like a Greek temple, our society is built on a series of pillars, including justice, education and health. Just as magistrates carry out justice and teachers provide education, health-care providers are the foundation upon which the pillar of health is built.
But what happens if more than half of health-care providers across the world suffer depression or burn-out over the course of their careers? What happens if, in the most severe cases, they commit suicide?
There is no doubt that the fundamental pillar of health is severely weakened by the suffering of health-care providers. It is also worth considering that the suffering of health-care providers shakes the foundations of the other pillars of society due to the simple fact that everyone is a patient from the day they are born until the day they die.
The foundation of our entire society is weakened by the widespread suffering of health-care providers.
Behind the White Coat
"Should the care-giver/patient relationship be considered a vital place of sanctuary that provides protection from the deterioration of working conditions and the depression of health-care providers?"
We could never have imagined there would be a need for health-care providers to be able to express their unhappiness about the inadequate protection of the relationship with their patients. Unprotected, the health-care provider/patient relationship has taken a back seat, allowing other factors to take centre stage: healthcare must be profitable, medical practice involves less of a human touch, technology plays an increasingly dominant role, there are more and more administrative procedures and the mountain of overtime is rising… the short-term vision of economic and health policies is placing practitioners under increasing pressure.
André SIMONNET and Julia GUDEFIN
authors-directors of the documentary-conference
The health-care provider/patient relationship and the mental health of health-care providers
2012 to 2019: 7 years of writing and filming
This investigation aims to provoke a global discussion on both the importance and the complexity of the health-care provider/patient relationship, and the way in which this relationship affects the working conditions and the mental health of health-care providers.
A dynamic worldwide network of health-care providers, students, universities, politicians and patients participated in the investigation. In simple terms, the documentary-conference Behind the White Coat is the product of collective knowledge.
The death of a patient
Topics
The main topics discussed in the documentary-conference are:
- Working conditions
- Unhappiness - depression – burn-out – suicide
- Empathy, finding the right balance
- Life-changing experiences
- Medical training
- Death of a patient
- From idealisation to cynicism
Experiencing diverse cultures and meeting diverse people
This documentary comprises a series of interviews with health professionals, faculty professors, students and politicians who share their experiences and views of the health-care provider/patient relationship. It provides an insight into their beliefs: the importance of this relationship and the need to protect it in order to ensure better working conditions and protect the health of health-care providers themselves.
Students and patients from around the world ask engaging questions in each interview.
Conferences around the world
The documentary-conference "behind the white coat", enriched with a wealth of insights from around the world, will be shown as a conference-debate mainly in medical schools and medical training
centres. It aims is to inform current students, the health-care providers of tomorrow, about both the importance and the complexity of the health-care provider/patient relationship, and the way
in which this relationship affects the working conditions and the mental health of health-care providers.
You can also participate
Do you have a question to ask a health-care provider? In which country would you like the question to be asked? France, Cuba, China, Iran?
Film yourself asking your question and join the discussion by sending your video here.
Your questions will be translated and asked to health-care providers around the world.
At the end of each interview, a health-care provider will view two chosen questions. Their responses will be recorded, edited and shown in the documentary-conference.
You can also take part in an interview. No matter if you are Brazilian, French or Russian, you could ask your questions to health-care providers in China, India or Iran... We will go
everywhere.
Go out to meet you
We will set up our stand in the doorways of medical schools and medical training centres in each country to record students' questions and connect them with health-care providers on the other side of the world
Special thanks to :
