Good Practice examples 2018-19

As Medical Education Lead for ENT, I am responsible for delivering ‘ENT Week’. This well-received programme employs varied teaching methods, including interactive lectures/tutorials, hands-on practical/technical exercises and small-group case/problem-based learning in theatres/clinics/wards. The ‘short and sweet’ attachment concludes with a ‘fun’ quiz, involving both oral and written interplay. I personally have conducted all such sessions, but have also recruited like-minded peers/juniors, whom I have mentored into a dedicated ‘teaching team’ to deliver my vision for ‘ENT Week’, which is to be edifying, memorable and inspiring for the very short time that ENT is allocated.

Mr Alam Hannan, Consultant ENT Surgeon, UCLH

I have introduced many skills into MBBS teaching from: abstract writing, poster presentation and numerical skills within Foundations of Health and Medical Practice. Recently we have increased tutorial provision in response to SEQ requests and provided personalised feedback via “Case of The Week”, which has been a great success.

Dr Pam Houston, Principal Teaching Fellow, UCL Division of Biosciences

I inherently use a variety of teaching modalities; clinical/communication scenario role-plays, ‘buzz groups’, turn-taking, quizzes, team exercises. A highlight is at the final Y2 session, when I encourage willing student volunteers to ‘run’ the meet and greet patient visitor experience. It is fantastic to experience student confidence building over the year and exemplifies my approach of following curriculum objectives with a student-centred focus and an overarching theme of clinical relevance in practice.

Dr Subash Jayakumar, Lead CPP Tutor, UCL Medical School

I have changed some of my delivery style to keep a focus during my sessions. I use a teaching room with 3 large screens to display the images we are talking about. This allows me to move around the class during the session, changing the class focus and keeping attention rather than being at the front just showing image after image. By moving around the students, I am able to have more personal conversations with them. I find interactions like this really useful as it enables me to see who understands what. I am then able to try to question the more able further, whilst supporting those who are finding it trickier.

Dr William Topping, Consultant Radiologist, Lister Hospital

This year I have introduced a motivational interviewing module. I give an introductory lecture at the start of the course and then specific guidance and goals for each week. I explain to the students how important it is for patients to be empowered to take charge of their condition and how we as doctors can facilitate this. For example, I often have early or late clinics or telephone clinics for young diabetes patients. This minimises disruption to their jobs or college. The students can see in practical terms the difference they can make to individual patients. To help empower the students to make changes I encourage them to complete the online Institute of Healthcare Improvement Basics course.

Dr Sagen Zac-Varghese, Consultant in Diabetes and Endocrinology, Lister Hospital

I started to deliver a Rheumatology Chronic Disease Module that I developed internally, working from the early (largely negative) feedback on chronic disease attachments, to develop a much more focused set of sessions rather than just have students attached to medical firms that treated chronic patients. This now involves two 1-hour sessions for each rheumatology group that includes a detailed interview with a patient, focussing predominantly on the personal impact of chronic disease rather than the medical issues, and one on the socio-economic impacts. The former session develops a philosophy of the ‘person with disease’ rather than ‘patient’. The latter allows students to see the burden of chronic disease in terms of the wider healthcare setting as well as learning about the comorbidities that develop over time in such patients.

Dr Spencer Ellis, Consultant Rheumatologist and General Physician, Lister Hospital

I have ensured that there is a focus on consultant-delivered bedside teaching in each of the 4 specialities of digestive health and have set up a “zero tolerance for unannounced faculty absences“.

Mr Bimbi Fernando, Consultant Renal Surgeon, Royal Free Hospital

Since joining the teaching staff in the Medical School I have consistently been an active voice for the development of an integrated programme. I am involved in working groups to rationalise scientific content with clinical context over a number of disciplines from the 2012 curriculum review and now as we move towards a blueprint and Outcomes for Graduates.

Dr Pam Houston, Principal Teaching Fellow, UCL Division of Biosciences

I have acted as a formal examiner for the formative OSCEs for Year 4 and Year 6 on 2 stations. On both occasions, one assessment strategy I employed was that I created a short list of takeaway lessons from the specific examined task that I would teach to students at the end of the station, and areas to revise in their own time. This fostered student-led learning provided direction to topics to revise after the station regardless of the mark I had given.

Dr Mohamed Adam Ali, FY2 Emergency Medicine, Barnet Hospital

Throughout the year, I regularly use teaching opportunities to provide formative feedback in a sensitive and student-centred manner, having researched models of giving feedback and predominantly using a variant of Pendleton Rules. I prioritise that feedback is always given within a supportive environment that encourages a reflective student-centred approach.

Dr Subash Jayakumar, Lead CPP Tutor, UCL Medical School

I organise a formative history examination. This involves the students taking a history from a volunteer and video- recording themselves on their own phone. I also give each student verbal and written feedback for their history taking.

Dr Sagen Zac-Varghese, Consultant in Diabetes and Endocrinology, Lister Hospital

All the final year students are allocated a simulation session in order to practise key skills required in managing an acutely ill patient. Our high-fidelity simulation sessions are designed to provide a safe environment to practice the technical and non-technical skills that are required as an FY1/2…. Simulation has been very popular and is a great learning environment and opportunity. All the scenarios are based on real life cases and are as close to real time as possible. The team has also incepted doing a cardiac arrest simulation at the beginning of the session and then again after each student has done their individual scenario to see how the team have improved. Furthermore, the simulation team are piloting the use of white boards for feedback where each board is labelled with a different aspect (communication, technical skills, human factors etc).

Watford Undergraduate Medical Education Team

The Respiratory Education Lead and I meet the students at 8.30am on their first day and stress again that they can contact either of us directly and at any time and we will help in any way we can. We explain that we also learn from them and amend our teaching in line with the suggestions that they feedback to us on their last day. I have found that meeting them personally on their first day makes them feel supported and nurtures good communication and learning.

Ms Donna Basire, Administrator, Respiratory Department, UCLH

I am careful to stress a philosophy that engenders students to regard themselves as integral and equal members within medical teams so that they do not feel as if they are uninvolved bystanders in the clinical pathway.

Dr Spencer Ellis, Consultant Rheumatologist and General Physician, Lister Hospital

My most satisfying pastoral activity is career guidance and mentorship. Via UCL Surgical Society, I have delivered well-attended ENT Careers Events annually. For my Yr6 SSC students, already ENT-invested, I stay in touch, not only to guide CV-building research/audit projects, but more so to mentor career progress through FY/Core/Specialty Training. My career advice now seems to also be in demand outside ENT.

Mr Alam Hannan, Consultant ENT Surgeon, UCLH

I always strive to provide a safe space for students to share their stories and concerns and support them by signposting e.g. to psychological support and providing practical advice and kind words. Drawing on my many years of experience as an NHS clinician and annual safeguarding training, I try to ensure clear boundaries are maintained at all times. I also undertake voluntary training in order to improve the support I can offer, e.g. with Rape Crisis.

Dr Jayne Kavanagh, Principal Clinical Teaching Fellow, UCL Medical School

I have been mentored by the Education Lead for Respiratory and have been trained up through regular meetings with her. I have developed the administrator role as required by the students’ needs, e.g. I have started attending the introductory meetings as face-to-face student meetings help communication.

Ms Donna Basire, Administrator, Respiratory Department, UCLH

I have significant teaching and training responsibilities in the postgraduate domain and am also a trained appraiser. There is significant overlap between the needs of postgraduates and undergraduates and I feel well placed in terms of meeting the needs of medical undergraduates as adult learners.

Mr Bimbi Fernando, Consultant Renal Surgeon, Royal Free Hospital

I employ research-based education throughout the breadth of my learning and teaching practices at UCL. I am committed to the engagement of students with the Connected Curriculum. I put myself forward for the Change Makers peer-dialogue review. This was successfully completed with high praise from my student reviewers. In particular, my emphasis on research-based teaching to students via the use of interactive technology, bespoke teaching resources and unparalleled access for one-on-one feedback, were applauded.

Dr Pam Houston, Principal Teaching Fellow, UCL Division of Biosciences

I pride myself in having a deeply reflective analysis of my feedback/teaching and am continually evolving my educational philosophy. I am enrolling onto the UCL MSc Health Professions Education programme and am excited at further developing my education career. I have created an Educator PDP and am at the early stages of involvement in a research paper on the impact of digital health advancements on medical training.

Dr Subash Jayakumar, Lead CPP Tutor, UCL Medical School

I am fully committed to my ongoing professional development. I have set up co-supervision sessions with academic teaching colleagues in UCLMS and other UCL departments to discuss and review each other’s teaching on a regular basis.

Dr Jayne Kavanagh, Principal Clinical Teaching Fellow, UCL Medical School

As a recently graduated UCL medical student, I have good insight into topics commonly perceived to be difficult, confusing or poorly taught: many students comment that these were explained particularly well. I use the following innovative/novel approaches:

• Heavy use of classical exam-style questions followed by a teaching slide on key learning points on the topic and tables summarising key conditions and their distinguishing features.
• Drawing in lectures: encouraging students to draw with me easily misunderstood topics. For example, a drawing of the glomerulus and the effect exerted on it by NSAIDs and ACEis, etc.
• Encouraging students to enact clinical signs: e.g. Cvostek and Trousseau signs of hypocalcaemia, and dermatomes.
• The inclusion of photographs/videos of real patients I have encountered in my clinical practice with classical signs. I seek patient consent and liaise with the clinical photography department to provide photos, which I use in teaching/for case reports.

Dr Mohamed Adam Ali, FY2 Emergency Medicine, Barnet Hospital

I have made a point of introducing complaints, serious incidents and other matters of professional practice encountered in my role as a clinical director, as a way of engaging students directly in the learning for such processes and appreciating how they develop and may be avoided. We have been able to look at candour as an action following complaints and at others ways that these may be resolved.

Dr Spencer Ellis, Consultant Rheumatologist and General Physician, Lister Hospital

Another innovation to engage students is my ‘RNTNE Hospital Weekly’. This is simply a two-sided A4 double-page spread, presented akin to a newspaper, incorporating humorous but educational ‘articles’ on common ENT topics, plus ENT-themed puzzles, as well as pertinent information about ‘ENT Week’. I intend to hand printed copies to students during their ENT attachment, my motive being to connect via a tangible item and ‘fun’ memory.

Mr Alam Hannan, Consultant ENT Surgeon, UCLH

I recruited women to speak about their experiences of abortion, FGM, surviving domestic violence/abuse, being a doctor with a conscientious objection to abortion, surviving childhood abuse, sexual violence, forced marriage and seeking healthcare as a trans woman. Since 2015-16, these women have told their stories after interactive lectures focused on the knowledge and skills needed to be effective junior doctors when seeing people facing these issues.

Dr Jayne Kavanagh, Principal Clinical Teaching Fellow, UCL Medical School

Every session usually begins with a case example brought by the students: this facilitates self-directed learning and is a real time relevant case that the students are involved with - every x-ray has a story behind it rather than it being a one off image. This makes radiology an integrated part of a patient history rather than an abstract. We discuss the clinical setting before reviewing the imaging. We discuss what we should do next and the reasons behind it. I have found this approach encourages students to understand where imaging is placed in the patient pathway and investigation of disease.

Dr William Topping, Consultant Radiologist, Lister Hospital

The Undergraduate Supervisor arranged for the students to be involved in the Trust’s flu vaccination scheme; the immunisation nurse signed off their procedure card for doing an IM injection.

Watford Undergraduate Medical Education Team

7. Teamwork

There are several key components of the team that come together to organise and deliver a valuable learning experience for UCL students coming to West Herts NHS Trust. …… The wider Medical Education Centre group enhance the teaching activities that take place, be this the simulation team who run and train on the simulation days or the reception team who ensure rooms are booked and equipped for teaching days.