A seasoned piano teacher met with her students once a week. She asked her students to practice once a day. Then, at the end of 8 weeks, she held a recital. The students did a terrific job. There were congratulations all around from parents, to students, to teacher.
A new piano teacher who had attended the recital was impressed with the students’ performance. They had made tremendous progress over the 8 weeks. The new piano teacher asked what the teacher did that made the students play so well. She said, “It’s not what I do, it is the practice the students do each day.”
The new piano teacher set up a similar system for his students. Upon meeting the student for the first time, this teacher asked the students to practice daily for 8 weeks and to then come to a recital. Since it was the daily practice that made the kids play so well, he reasoned he didn’t need to meet with the students for weekly lessons.
Of course, the recital was a nightmare for all concerned. It was as though none of the students had really practiced much at all. The teacher asked the students if they had been practicing, and all responded that they had. In fact, most of them had been practicing just for the last few days in preparation for the recital.
The Lesson to Piano Teachers: Results Depend on Regular Assessment
It would be ridiculous for a piano teacher to just have his/her students practice at home without coming to lessons, truly ridiculous. We know, and any piano teacher would know, that without the benefit of weekly lessons, few children would practice every day.
How the Piano Parable Relates to Patient Care
When drugs are tested in clinical trials, almost invariably there are once-weekly or every-other-week return visits to assess how the patients are doing. These visits are quite similar to regular visits for piano lessons. Both clinical study visits and piano lessons affect the compliance of the patient/student they assess.
Yet while it is ridiculous for a piano teacher to recommend home practice without regular lessons, it seems quite common for dermatologists to have patients try a medication for 6 to 8 weeks without any office visits in the interim to assess progress. Is it any surprise then when our patients don’t use their medications well?
Perhaps you’ve wondered why a drug like topical calcipotriene worked so well in an 8-week clinical trial (with the weekly or every-other-week assessment visits) but not nearly so well in clinical practice (when patients were only told to return in 8 weeks). Now you know.
We can get our patients to use their medications better if we check up on them at intervals. A return visit, or even a phone call or e-mail contact, 1 and 2 weeks after starting therapy will improve patients’ use of their medications, turning frustration into success.
A seasoned piano teacher met with her students once a week. She asked her students to practice once a day. Then, at the end of 8 weeks, she held a recital. The students did a terrific job. There were congratulations all around from parents, to students, to teacher.
A new piano teacher who had attended the recital was impressed with the students’ performance. They had made tremendous progress over the 8 weeks. The new piano teacher asked what the teacher did that made the students play so well. She said, “It’s not what I do, it is the practice the students do each day.”
The new piano teacher set up a similar system for his students. Upon meeting the student for the first time, this teacher asked the students to practice daily for 8 weeks and to then come to a recital. Since it was the daily practice that made the kids play so well, he reasoned he didn’t need to meet with the students for weekly lessons.
Of course, the recital was a nightmare for all concerned. It was as though none of the students had really practiced much at all. The teacher asked the students if they had been practicing, and all responded that they had. In fact, most of them had been practicing just for the last few days in preparation for the recital.
The Lesson to Piano Teachers: Results Depend on Regular Assessment
It would be ridiculous for a piano teacher to just have his/her students practice at home without coming to lessons, truly ridiculous. We know, and any piano teacher would know, that without the benefit of weekly lessons, few children would practice every day.
How the Piano Parable Relates to Patient Care
When drugs are tested in clinical trials, almost invariably there are once-weekly or every-other-week return visits to assess how the patients are doing. These visits are quite similar to regular visits for piano lessons. Both clinical study visits and piano lessons affect the compliance of the patient/student they assess.
Yet while it is ridiculous for a piano teacher to recommend home practice without regular lessons, it seems quite common for dermatologists to have patients try a medication for 6 to 8 weeks without any office visits in the interim to assess progress. Is it any surprise then when our patients don’t use their medications well?
Perhaps you’ve wondered why a drug like topical calcipotriene worked so well in an 8-week clinical trial (with the weekly or every-other-week assessment visits) but not nearly so well in clinical practice (when patients were only told to return in 8 weeks). Now you know.
We can get our patients to use their medications better if we check up on them at intervals. A return visit, or even a phone call or e-mail contact, 1 and 2 weeks after starting therapy will improve patients’ use of their medications, turning frustration into success.
A seasoned piano teacher met with her students once a week. She asked her students to practice once a day. Then, at the end of 8 weeks, she held a recital. The students did a terrific job. There were congratulations all around from parents, to students, to teacher.
A new piano teacher who had attended the recital was impressed with the students’ performance. They had made tremendous progress over the 8 weeks. The new piano teacher asked what the teacher did that made the students play so well. She said, “It’s not what I do, it is the practice the students do each day.”
The new piano teacher set up a similar system for his students. Upon meeting the student for the first time, this teacher asked the students to practice daily for 8 weeks and to then come to a recital. Since it was the daily practice that made the kids play so well, he reasoned he didn’t need to meet with the students for weekly lessons.
Of course, the recital was a nightmare for all concerned. It was as though none of the students had really practiced much at all. The teacher asked the students if they had been practicing, and all responded that they had. In fact, most of them had been practicing just for the last few days in preparation for the recital.
The Lesson to Piano Teachers: Results Depend on Regular Assessment
It would be ridiculous for a piano teacher to just have his/her students practice at home without coming to lessons, truly ridiculous. We know, and any piano teacher would know, that without the benefit of weekly lessons, few children would practice every day.
How the Piano Parable Relates to Patient Care
When drugs are tested in clinical trials, almost invariably there are once-weekly or every-other-week return visits to assess how the patients are doing. These visits are quite similar to regular visits for piano lessons. Both clinical study visits and piano lessons affect the compliance of the patient/student they assess.
Yet while it is ridiculous for a piano teacher to recommend home practice without regular lessons, it seems quite common for dermatologists to have patients try a medication for 6 to 8 weeks without any office visits in the interim to assess progress. Is it any surprise then when our patients don’t use their medications well?
Perhaps you’ve wondered why a drug like topical calcipotriene worked so well in an 8-week clinical trial (with the weekly or every-other-week assessment visits) but not nearly so well in clinical practice (when patients were only told to return in 8 weeks). Now you know.
We can get our patients to use their medications better if we check up on them at intervals. A return visit, or even a phone call or e-mail contact, 1 and 2 weeks after starting therapy will improve patients’ use of their medications, turning frustration into success.
