ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at a key component to maintaining health as a Foundation doctor: working in quality clinical teams with patient-centred principles. It discusses how Foundation doctors can add to their esteem through becoming good teachers of medical students and sensitive listeners in consultations with patients. Good relationships with nursing and other staff, including midwives, ward clerks, pharmacists, social workers, occupational therapists/physiotherapists and technicians, can make or break a Foundation experience. Consultants may be absent a lot of the time, and registrars may be unaccustomed to a leadership and teaching role or more interested in exploiting their new position in the hospital hierarchy to reduce their own workload. A hallmark of a good clinical team is that it is truly interprofessional, so respect the roles and responsibilities of nurses in particular. Evidence shows that the better the teamwork in a hospital setting, the better the outcomes for patients.
