Response to: Medical students’ perspectives on the ‘enhancement of role modelling in clinical educators’

Abstract Background Medical students are increasingly being exposed to the clinic at early stages in their education, with the benefits becoming widely realised. This early exposure to such a highly pressurized environment can result in increased levels of stress and emotional unrest. Schwartz Center Rounds, reflective forums primed to aid social and emotional issues healthcare professionals’ experience, are now a relatively common and effective means to combat these effects in hospitals in the UK and USA. Recent studies show that the Schwartz Center Round format may also provide positive benefits for medical students. It has been suggested that students may be able to develop good coping strategies from discussions with “real” professionals.Methods This study investigated whether the guidance of Schwartz Center Rounds in year 2 of an MBChB by junior doctors enriches students’ appreciation and benefits of the Schwartz Center Round.Results The results reinforce the concept that Schwartz Center Rounds are an effective way of fostering empathy and understanding towards both patients and colleagues. Moreover, the facilitation of the Round by Clinical Educators, who also act as an imperfect role model, provides a pertinence to the exercise. The results show that early-year undergraduate medical students generally engage positively with SRs and demonstrate an ability to empathise with each other and share feelings regarding early clinical exposure without inhibition. However, correlation analyses suggest that engagement with the Schwartz Center Round is fundamental to gaining an understanding of its purpose and concurrently gain the most awareness of the emotional needs of themselves, their colleagues and patients.Conclusion Schwartz Center Rounds are an effective way of fostering empathy and understanding towards patients and colleagues in the healthcare environment. There is some evidence that the inclusion of Clinical Educators made the Round feel more pertinent to the students with the junior doctors’ clinical experiences being described as a useful addition to the discussion. Moreover, the students that benefitted most from the Round were the ones who engaged with and understood the process best and therefore it is important to help students realise that Schwartz Rounds are not merely a “facilitated whinge”.

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Medical Students’ Perspective about Attributes of Role Models - The Other Side of Story

Journal of Evolution of Medical and Dental Sciences ◽

10.14260/jemds/2021/350 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (22) ◽

pp. 1692-1697

Author(s):

Fatima Aslam ◽

Unaiza Jawad ◽

Usman Amin Hotiana ◽

Usman Mahboob ◽

Sara Ashfaq ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Medical Students ◽

Role Models ◽

Role Model ◽

Structured Interviews ◽

Medical Teacher ◽

Positive Role ◽

Role Modelling ◽

Key Factor ◽

Negative Role ◽

Workplace Attire

BACKGROUND Role modelling exponentially affects the attitude and behaviours of medical students and act as a key factor in developing professional attributes in them. Medical students observe role models and learn from them more than through formal teaching. This study investigates the determining elements that make a teacher a role model, so that role modelling can be used as an effective educational tool. METHODS A qualitative exploratory study was conducted on fifth year medical students of three medical colleges of Lahore, Pakistan. Fifteen, telephonic, semi structured interviews were included in the study. Thematic analysis was done by manual coding of transcribed interviews. RESULTS A total of 374 codes were generated in the first cycle of coding, that were further merged to 42 in the second cycle. These codes led to 5 subthemes that finally emerged as two themes. The first theme was “Finding ways around their blaring blunders - are we blind?” highlighting the attributes of negative role models which include humiliation of students and juniors, poor teaching and communication skills, lack of empathy for patients and unethical relationship with pharmaceutical industry. The second theme was “Walking the Line” focusing on the components of positive role modelling like formal workplace attire, candid approach in teaching, strategic dealing with students, empathetic attitude towards patients and prioritising fair treatments. CONCLUSIONS Medical education is not only about acquisition of new knowledge and skills but is also about acquiring physician’s character and identity. The study findings suggest that the medical students pay attention to both positive and negative attributes of their teachers and their influence on promoting professionalism and character development. It is suggested that both teachers and administrators should understand the significance of role models and advocate excellence in role modelling. KEY WORDS Role Models, Professional Development, Medical Student, Medical Teacher

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Communication skills learning through role models in Nepal; what are medical students really learning? A qualitative study

BMC Medical Education ◽

10.1186/s12909-021-03049-0 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Amanda Helen Douglas ◽

Samita Pant Acharya ◽

Lynne A. Allery

Keyword(s):

Medical Students ◽

Communication Skills ◽

Role Models ◽

Role Model ◽

Qualitative Evaluation ◽

Internal Conflict ◽

Structured Interviews ◽

Negative Experiences ◽

Role Modelling ◽

Skills Learning

Abstract Background Communication skills (CS) are important and teachable, however, many Asian medical schools’ curricula do not incorporate them. Patan Academy of Health Sciences in Nepal identifies CS within its’ aims and curriculum. CS are taught from commencement of medical school and re-emphasised throughout preclinical learning (first 2 years). There is no explicit CS teaching in clinical years but placements allow students to learn through observation. These ‘role-modelling’ interactions form part of CS learning and development. Methods This study is a qualitative evaluation of CS learning in PAHS, through participants’ experiences. Through purposive sampling, twenty medical students from 2nd, 4th and Intern years were selected for inclusion. Data were collected via audio recorded, semi-structured interviews, employing a piloted schedule. Transcripts were manually coded and analysed thematically. Codes were organised into themes and subthemes. This paper discusses themes related to role-modelling. Results The majority of participants described role-modelling in CS learning, recounting both positive and negative incidents, reflected in the themes of; Positive and Negative experiences. Subthemes of Personal Qualities and Inspiring, emerged from positive experiences, describing students’ desire to imitate or aspire to be like their role models. Learners reported predominantly negative experiences and interns exclusively so. From these emerged subthemes of; Good doctors but.., Contradictory messages, How not to behave, Unprofessional behaviour and Affect-Emotional Distress. Learners received conflicting messages from observing behaviour contradictory to explicit CS teaching. Many identified learning “how not to behave” from such incidents, however, several described feeling distressed. Discussion Role-modelling is a powerful and important CS learning tool, seen as positively reinforcing or negatively contradicting explicit CS teaching. Negative modelling created internal conflict, confusion and distress amongst learners, despite its’ potential for positive learning. The worldwide problem of negative role-modelling is also prevalent in Nepal. Medical educators need to ensure the explicit curriculum aligns with implicit learning. Clinical tutors must be alerted to their powerful role-model position and supported in developing intentional modelling skills. Learners’ reflections upon their experiences should be facilitated, enabling them to critically evaluate observations and hence consciously adopt or reject role-modelled behaviour and attitudes.

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Who is an effective clinical teacher from the perspectives of medical students and residents?

The Asia Pacific Scholar ◽

10.29060/taps.2021-6-1/oa2227 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 6 (1) ◽

pp. 40-48

Author(s):

Shirley Beng Suat Ooi ◽

Clement Woon Teck Tan ◽

Janneke M. Frambach

Keyword(s):

Medical Students ◽

Cognitive Domain ◽

Clinical Teacher ◽

Clinical Teachers ◽

Cognitive Domains ◽

Role Modelling ◽

Feeding Type ◽

National University ◽

Residency Programme ◽

Almost All

Introduction: Almost all published literature on effective clinical teachers were from western countries and only two compared medical students with residents. Hence, this study aims to explore the perceived characteristics of effective clinical teachers among medical students compared to residents graduating from an Asian medical school, and specifically whether there are differences between cognitive and non-cognitive domain skills, to inform faculty development. Methods: This qualitative study was conducted at the National University Health System (NUHS), Singapore involving six final year medical students at the National University of Singapore, and six residents from the NUHS Residency programme. Analysis of the semi-structured one-on-one interviews was done using a 3-step approach based on principles of Grounded Theory. Results: There are differences in the perceptions of effective clinical teachers between medical students and residents. Medical students valued a more didactic spoon-feeding type of teacher in their earlier clinical years. However final year medical students and residents valued feedback and role-modelling at clinical practice. The top two characteristics of approachability and passion for teaching are in the non-cognitive domains. These seem foundational and lead to the acquisition of effective teaching skills such as the ability to simplify complex concepts and creating a conducive learning environment. Being exam-oriented is a new characteristic not identified before in “Western-dominated” publications. Conclusion: The results of this study will help to inform educators of the differences in a learner’s needs at different stages of their clinical development and to potentially adapt their teaching styles.

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Enhancement of role modelling in clinical educators: A randomized controlled trial

Medical Teacher ◽

10.1080/0142159x.2019.1691720 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 42 (4) ◽

pp. 436-443 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Elaheh Mohammadi ◽

Azim Mirzazadeh ◽

Amir Ali Sohrabpour ◽

Hooman Shahsavari ◽

Mehdi Yaseri ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Randomized Controlled Trial ◽

Controlled Trial ◽

Randomized Controlled ◽

Role Modelling ◽

Clinical Educators

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Characteristics of Good Clinical Educators from Medical Students’ Perspectives

Developments in Healthcare Information Systems and Technologies ◽

10.4018/978-1-61692-002-9.ch011 ◽

2011 ◽

pp. 145-161

Author(s):

Gary Sutkin ◽

Hansel Burley ◽

Ke Zhang ◽

Neetu Arora

Keyword(s):

Medical Students ◽

Qualitative Inquiry ◽

Clinical Teacher ◽

Clinical Teachers ◽

Web Based ◽

Unique Role ◽

Clinical Educators ◽

Data Content ◽

Fourth Year Medical Students ◽

Medical Educators

Medical educators have a unique role in teaching students how to save lives and give comfort during illness. This article reports a qualitative inquiry into medical students perspectives on the key qualities which differentiate excellent and poor clinical teachers, using a Web-based questionnaire with a purposeful sample of third- and fourth-year medical students. Thirty-seven medical students responded with 465 characteristics and supportive anecdotes. All participants responses were analyzed through reviewing, coding, member checking, recoding and content analysis, which yielded 12 codes. Responses from 5 randomly chosen participants were recoded by two authors with an inter-rater reliability coefficient of 0.72, implying agreement. Finally, 3 larger categories emerged from the data: Content Competence, Teaching Mechanics, and Teaching Dynamics. We incorporate these codes into a diagrammatic model of a good clinical teacher, discuss the relationships and interactions between the codes and categories, and suggest further areas of research.

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Medical students perceptions of the influence of undergraduate experiences on making a career choice in psychiatry

The Journal of Mental Health Training Education and Practice ◽

10.1108/jmhtep-06-2015-0025 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽

Author(s):

Hany George El-Sayeh ◽

Elizabeth Cashman ◽

Rozita Zenhari ◽

Sarah Jones ◽

Claire Pocklington ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Medical Students ◽

Therapeutic Success ◽

Positive Role ◽

Content Type ◽

Role Modelling ◽

Undergraduate Experience ◽

The Uk ◽

Course Variables ◽

National Trends ◽

Student's Perceptions

Purpose Psychiatric recruitment and retention are at an unprecedented low within the UK. The reasons for this shortfall may include public and professional stigma, recent NHS service developments and changes in undergraduate training. The purpose of this study is to explore medical student’s perceptions of the nature and magnitude of these factors on influencing whether or not they would choose a career in psychiatry. Design/methodology/approach This qualitative study was conducted with year four medical students at a single UK University with low levels of recruitment into psychiatry. Two focus groups were asked about their undergraduate experience within the speciality. Thematic analysis of the resulting transcripts enabled the identification of codes and over-arching themes, which formed the focus of this study. Findings Four key themes were identified during analysis and these included: the core subject matter (of psychiatry) viewed as being different; curriculum or course variables; interpersonal factors and; career factors. Placement enjoyment, positive role-modelling and enthusiasm were all important when considering psychiatry as a career. Therapeutic success, career flexibility and pay-banding were also powerful determinants. Practical implications These findings led to the initiation of an apprentice programme for undergraduates on psychiatric placement, designed to enhance the student experience of psychiatry and the perception of the speciality as a career. Originality/value While there are a number of possible solutions to current adverse national trends in psychiatric recruitment, increasing efforts to increase both the variety and quality of undergraduate placements and establishing a clearer sense of team identity is of vital importance if these patterns are to be reversed.

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