Publications
Publications
- July 2001 (Revised May 2002)
- HBS Case Collection
Making a Doctor
Abstract
Three doctors were interviewed to learn how they were trained to be a physicians. One was a family practice senior resident, one was a critical care pediatric chief resident, and one was an orthopedic staff surgeon 18 months out of residency. All three were interviewed one-on-one in an unstructured fashion and were asked the same questions: "What type of doctor are you, and how did you become that type of doctor?" The subjects, in recounting their experiences, established the content, sequence, chronology, and emphasis of their responses. When the subjects were done telling their stories, the interviewer posed follow-up questions, such as "What did you mean by 'X' that you mentioned?" or "Would you give me an example of 'Y' that you described?" All interviews ended with the same questions: "Are you a good doctor?" "What made you so?" All three interview sessions lasted approximately 90 minutes. The interviews are not a judgment on medical education or the practice of medicine, but a basis for an exercise in applying the Toyota Production System (TPS) Rules-in-Use framework to a process for which TPS has not been applied previously.
Keywords
Citation
Spear, Steven J. "Making a Doctor." Harvard Business School Case 602-027, July 2001. (Revised May 2002.)