Journal of Medical Education Research

An Introduction to Strategic Planning for the Medical Trainee Using Wardley Maps

Rosa Sun — 2024-08-22

Background

This article introduces Wardley Mapping, a visual tool with a long-standing history in business and technology sectors, as a valuable and novel approach for medical trainees navigating the complex and evolving healthcare landscape. Wardley Mapping offers unique methods to visualise and analyse complex systems, aligning well with the multifaceted nature of training and career development.

How we Did It

The article illustrates its application through a comparative example of planning a medical school elective. We outline the key components of Wardley Maps, describing the process of creation, present the benefits, limitations, and challenges of applying this tool in the medical education context.

Learning Points

We explore learning points for implementing and refining Wardley Mapping in medical education. We also describe exciting opportunities for future research, such as integration into medical curricula and its long-term impact on career outcomes.

Conclusions

Wardley Mapping shows promise in providing a comprehensive visualisation of career components, enabling evolution tracking, facilitating informed decision-making, and offering a holistic perspective.

“An Introduction to Health Research: From Idea to Publication” – designing and implementing a virtual hands-on research course for healthcare students

Sarah Cuschieri — 2024-08-22

Abstract

Introduction

Early exposure to medical research is essential for healthcare professionals, shaping their careers and enhancing patient care. However, students face significant obstacles, such as lack of prior knowledge and mentorship. Malta's healthcare students lack hands-on research teaching.

Methods

To address this gap in knowledge, a tailored elective virtual research course was designed a using the ADDIE framework. Titled "An Introduction to Health Research: From Idea to Publication," the course comprised eight weekly lectures covering theoretical and practical aspects of research. Teaching consisted of didactic teaching and problem based learning tasks. Conducted via the University of Malta’s DegreePlus program, it allowed hands-on group work and active participation through online platforms like ZOOM®.

Results

All students enrolled in the course completed pre- and post-course surveys. Most (57.14%, CI95%: 32.55 – 78.66) were in pre-clinical years, predominantly female (78.57%, CI95%: 51.68 – 93.16). 85.71% (CI95%: 58.81 – 97.24) lacked research experience or publishing opportunities. Main barriers included lack of opportunity (50.00%), time (21.40%), and training (28.60%). Post-course, significant improvements were observed in research knowledge and confidence in conducting research. Qualitative analysis revealed that respondents expressed feelings of 'empowerment through education' and appreciation for the 'effective course design and delivery' of the course.

Conclusion

Participants feedback demonstrated increased confidence and knowledge in research conduct after completing the course, which provided structured learning, combining theory and hands-on practice. The online format demonstrates virtual instruction's potential to overcome barriers and enhance participation in research.

Increasing the visibility of older people in medical education – a process of mapping and adapting to the British Geriatrics Society recommended curriculum

Mark Sanders — 2024-07-10

Introduction: Medical education may not fully prepare graduates for managing an ageing population with an increasing frequency of multiple long-term conditions (MLTCs). Ongoing curriculum evaluation and adaptation is essential to ensure that medical education meets the needs of this group of patients. We present a case study of practical curriculum adaptation in response to changing patient demographics.

Methods: We mapped the University of Sunderland's (UoS) medical curriculum against the British Geriatric Society (BGS) Recommended Curriculum to identify gaps. Collaborating with faculty, we adapted the curriculum to enhance the coverage of BGS learning outcomes.

Results: The UoS curriculum fully covered 40.6% of BGS learning outcomes. However, 27.8% were not addressed, and only 19.4% of patient case studies featured patients aged over 65. Adaptations included updated patient case studies, new assessments, and specialised sessions on interprofessional learning and geriatric medical ethics.

Conclusion: This project demonstrates the potential for curriculum mapping to integrate essential learning outcomes for treating older and multimorbid patient populations. Our approach also offers a model for other medical schools aiming to improve the representation of other diverse patient groups in undergraduate education.

Medical Student’s Perspective on Prehospital Training

Danielle Furness — 2024-07-10

Emergency medicine is a valued part of the medical curriculum, and students gain exposure in this field during clinical rotations. However, whilst medical students recognise the professional responsibility of working within one’s competency, as according to the GMC Good medical practice (2013), they do not feel confident or prepared using their clinical skills in a medical emergency (Xie JY, 2019). It is possible that this ambiguity is partly due to a gap in undergraduate medical school education/exposure in the pre-hospital environment which then translates into uncertainty in these situations as newly qualified doctors.

There is significant evidence of the effectiveness of online simulation training of a major incident (Rajagopal et al., 2020), and a similar method could be used across medical schools to deliver pre-hospital teaching to students. Similarly, a medical student first responder scheme, currently used in 12 UK medial schools, is an opportunity for students to gain experience in independently treating acutely unwell patients in the prehospital environment (Orsi et al., 2022), and has received positive feedback, however, operates on a voluntary basis and many students will not have access to this training as part of their medical school curriculum.

In my experience, my university provided me with a 1 week in-person ‘Major Incident Week’ course which consists of lectures and clinical skills workshops, as well as a 1-day live simulation of a major incident. This simulation involves over 300 participants including students, actors, local fire and police services, ambulance service, and doctors. This course provides a unique and invaluable experience of utilising prehospital standards of practice in patient care and increase students’ confidence when undertaking these clinical skills, by replicating the ‘real-world’ series of events.

The importance of pre-hospital training amongst medical students is clear. As per my experience, a more formal interactive, simulation-based training mandated for medical students could increase engagement and student’s confidence when undertaking the acute care rotation and would enable medical students to be first responders should a member of the public require first aid. However more research is needed into this field.