October 04, 2009

Perception is Reality!

I want to clarify something relative to SDA’s lest someone gets the wrong idea. I have no disdain or disrespect for Seventh-day Adventists. There are many fine folks within the denomination, within the local churches, and even at MTSA. What this author takes issue with is the fanaticism that the administration fosters, nurtures, and propagates. They wield their zealous beliefs in an unbalanced manner that is uncharacteristic among most of Adventism. It is very clear that the administrations first and foremost concern is not with educating the best-prepared nurse anesthetists but their paramount concern is making sure, as stated before, that everything is SDA-certified. A brief visit to the school’s website will bear this out.


Let’s note the very first statement relative to the mission of the school: “It is the mission of Middle Tennessee School of Anesthesia to provide a Christian, Seventh-day Adventist learning environment that fosters the pursuit of truth”. It is an assumption of the author that the most important aspect of a mission statement is that which is stated first. A mission statement essentially states your reason for being. It is the essence of what your school, company, or organization is all about. The mission statement is used as a measuring stick for everything else that happens within an entity. I posit that the mission statement of MTSA is unbalanced relative to why the school exists. Since the number one stated goal of MTSA is making certain the learning environment there is SDA, then everything else is secondary. Primary goal? Making sure they’re SDA-certified. Secondary goal? Let’s look again at the mission statement: “Excellence in anesthesia practice”. Does that seem unbalanced to anyone else but me? Shouldn’t excellence in anesthesia practice be the paramount goal for sake of teachers, for the sake of students, for the sake of potential employers, and for the sake of patients? Don’t you think that most patients, if asked, would say that between the two, they’d be concerned most about “excellence in anesthesia” and not whether or not the learning environment was SDA-certified? The primary goal is revealing the truth about your religion? Wow! That’s fanaticism!


“In response to this mission, Middle Tennessee School of Anesthesia views itself as a leader in academic and professional excellence”. I’m sorry, what does this mean? You are responding to your own mission statement and your response to this statement is, “We’re a leader”? Again, what does that mean? Who is following you? If you are a leader, what other schools recognize this besides you? You are touting yourself as a leader. Pony up with some evidence. That’s a very bold claim: MTSA views itself as a leader. Who else does? Unless you’ve got some evidence to back up this claim it’s little more than narcissism. Especially in light of the fact that you’re ranked 69th.


When we get to core values we see similar values topping the list: “A Christian, Seventh-day Adventist values-driven curriculum and program”. This is THE most important core value. Again, this is evidence of how important it is to push the religious beliefs of the administration to the forefront. Not excellence in teaching or learning. I’m curious, is it necessary to say “Christian, Seventh-day Adventist”? Adventism IS Christian so I am uncertain why the redundancy is necessary. “Academic and clinical excellence” again takes a back seat to religious beliefs. We value teaching our religion over academic and clinical excellence. I guess they want to make it clear where they stand on that matter.


As if to underscore the administrations vociferousness on this matter, the administration punctuates yet again their desire to make certain that everyone understands what is most important to the school. And it’s not excellence in anesthesia. The educational philosophy is as follows: “God, the Creator and sustainer [sic] of all creation, is the source of all knowledge. Humankind, created in the image of God for the purpose of communion with Him, has sinned and as a consequence has separated from him [sic]. God, through His infinite love, sent His Son to restore a right relationship with humankind—a relationship that begins on this earth and continues throughout eternity”. This must be why they view themselves as a leader, even though no one else is following. For some reason they feel duty-bound to tell you about their religion and if they don’t, you can’t properly and fully understand your anesthesia education and training. Don’t get me wrong, I agree with those statements. What I think is absurd is the idea that telling students about these things must overshadow everything else. They must tell you about God and about their religion in order for your anesthesia training to have meaning and purpose. Is that what Jesus did? Did He require folks to listen to the dogma and doctrines of His church before He healed them? I personally think a much better approach might be to instill core values into the curriculum that will allow students to see that that have a responsibility to be good stewards of all they possess, i.e., time, talent, and resources. God gives them all. To him/her whom much is given, much is expected. This, I think, would be much more palatable than the fanaticism that is now interwoven into the administration via inbreeding and nepotism. But hey, perception is reality. And they view themselves as “leaders”. So, yeah, lead on. And as you do please realize that all the top schools, the ones that are ranked higher than you, those that are true leaders within anesthesia education, they are doing it differently.


On a bright note, MTSA will soon have a new President. Whew, is that good news or what? No more marionettes, please. Just to clarify: “A marionette is a puppet controlled . . . using wires, . . . [or] strings; a marionette's puppeteer is called a manipulator. Marionettes are operated with the puppeteer hidden . . . in different forms of theatres or entertainment venues” or at fanatical anesthesia schools. It really has been entertaining. Don’t let the door . . .

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