Professional differences

I have just completed a placement in India working at a refuge centre for people with mental and physical disabilities. Whilst over there i was put in situations where i had to work closely with the other students with the patients. Some of the students i worked with were quite strong willed and would often try to push their opinion over others. Generally i am pretty easy going and will usually try to compromise in these situations rather than rock the boat, however there were several instances where i found myself in a position where i completely disagreed witth what the other student was suggesting. Whilst normally i would try to avoid these kind of situations i found that i actually gained a lot from them in terms of learning how to handle the situation in a way that ensured no one left feeling offended but the right treatment choices were made. The instances i have mentioned invloved patients that i was very confident about treating and knew I had more experience in treating these patients than the other student. Rather tahn tell the other student that i thought they were wrong i simply outlined what had been taught to me on previous pracs with similar patients and explained the reasioning behind my treatment choices. I did this in such a way that i did not come across as being rude or dismissive, but rather as though i was inviting the other student to have an open discussion about the patient. The other student was able to see that there was sound rationale behind my treatment plan and agreed that what i was suggesting was probably the better option. I feel that these instances have taught me a valuable lesson about how to deal with disagreements between staff members.