Medical Educators’ views and experiences of trigger warnings in teaching sensitive content

Abstract Background The educational beliefs of medical educators influence their teaching practices. Insight into these beliefs is important for medical schools to improve the quality of education they provide students and to guide faculty development. Several studies in the field of higher education have explored the educational beliefs of educators, resulting in classifications that provide a structural basis for diverse beliefs. However, few classification studies have been conducted in the field of medical education. We propose a framework that describes faculty beliefs about teaching, learning, and knowledge which is specifically adapted to the medical education context. The proposed framework describes a matrix in which educational beliefs are organised two dimensionally into belief orientations and belief dimensions. The belief orientations range from teaching-centred to learning-centred; the belief dimensions represent qualitatively distinct aspects of beliefs, such as ‘desired learning outcomes’ and ‘students’ motivation’. Methods We conducted in-depth semi-structured interviews with 26 faculty members, all of whom were deeply involved in teaching, from two prominent medical schools. We used the original framework of Samuelowicz and Bain as a starting point for context-specific adaptation. The qualitative analysis consisted of relating relevant interview fragments to the Samuelowicz and Bain framework, while remaining open to potentially new beliefs identified during the interviews. A range of strategies were employed to ensure the quality of the results. Results We identified a new belief dimension and adapted or refined other dimensions to apply in the context of medical education. The belief orientations that have counterparts in the original Samuelowicz and Bain framework are described more precisely in the new framework. The new framework sharpens the boundary between teaching-centred and learning-centred belief orientations. Conclusions Our findings confirm the relevance of the structure of the original Samuelowicz and Bain beliefs framework. However, multiple adaptations and refinements were necessary to align the framework to the context of medical education. The refined belief dimensions and belief orientations enable a comprehensive description of the educational beliefs of medical educators. With these adaptations, the new framework provides a contemporary instrument to improve medical education and potentially assist in faculty development of medical educators.

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The Uncertainty of COVID-19 Inducing Social Fear and Pressure on the Continuity of Rural, Community-Based Medical Education: A Thematic Analysis

Healthcare ◽

10.3390/healthcare9020223 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (2) ◽

pp. 223

Author(s):

Ryuichi Ohta ◽

Yoshinori Ryu ◽

Chiaki Sano

Keyword(s):

Medical Education ◽

Direct Observation ◽

Rural Community ◽

Thematic Analysis ◽

Community Based ◽

Postgraduate Students ◽

Medical Trainees ◽

Rural Settings ◽

Social Fear ◽

Medical Educators

Rural community-based medical education (CBME) enriches undergraduate and postgraduate students’ learning but has been impacted by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. We identified the challenges faced by stakeholders as well as the relevant solutions to provide recommendations for sustainable CBME in community hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 31 pages of field and reflection notes were collated through direct observation and used for analysis. Five physicians, eight nurses, one clerk, fourteen medical trainees, and three rural citizens were interviewed between 1 April and 30 September 2020. The interviews were recorded and their contents were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using thematic analysis. Three themes emerged: uncertainty surrounding COVID-19, an overwhelming sense of social fear and pressure within and outside communities, and motivation and determination to continue providing CBME. Rural CBME was impacted by not only the fear of infection but also social fear and pressure within and outside communities. Constant assessment of the risks associated with the pandemic and the implications for CMBE is essential to ensure the sustainability of CBME in rural settings, not only for medical educators and students but also stakeholders who administrate rural CBME.

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Digital Education in Times of COVID-19: The Experience of Medical Educators.

2020 The 4th International Conference on Digital Technology in Education ◽

10.1145/3429630.3429633 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Jesus Alfonso Beltran-Sanchez ◽

Irma Marcela González-Treviño ◽

Angeles Dominguez*

Keyword(s):

Digital Education ◽

Medical Educators

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Design, Implementation and Evaluation of a Distance Learning Framework to Expedite Medical Education during COVID-19 pandemic: A Proof-of-Concept Study

Journal of Medical Education and Curricular Development ◽

10.1177/23821205211000349 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 8 ◽

pp. 238212052110003

Author(s):

Aida J Azar ◽

Amar Hassan Khamis ◽

Nerissa Naidoo ◽

Marjam Lindsbro ◽

Juliana Helena Boukhaled ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Distance Learning ◽

Cognitive Development ◽

Collaborative Learning ◽

Medical Schools ◽

Design Strategies ◽

Student Autonomy ◽

Learning Framework ◽

Theory Of Practice ◽

Competency Based ◽

Medical Educators

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has forced medical schools to suspend on-campus live-sessions and shift to distance-learning (DL). This precipitous shift presented medical educators with a challenge, ‘to create a “ simulacrum” of the learning environment that students experience in classroom, in DL’. This requires the design of an adaptable and versatile DL-framework bearing in mind the theoretical underpinnings associated with DL. Additionally, effectiveness of such a DL-framework in content-delivery followed by its evaluation at the user-level, and in cognitive development needs to be pursued such that medical educators can be convinced to effectively adopt the framework in a competency-based medical programme. Main: In this study, we define a DL-framework that provides a ‘ simulacrum’ of classroom experience. The framework’s blueprint was designed amalgamating principles of: Garrison’s community inquiry, Siemens’ connectivism and Harasim’s online-collaborative-learning; and improved using Anderson’s DL-model. Effectiveness of the DL-framework in course delivery was demonstrated using the exemplar of fundamentals in epidemiology and biostatistics (FEB) course during COVID-19 lockdown. Virtual live-sessions integrated in the framework employed a blended-approach informed by instructional-design strategies of Gagne and Peyton. The efficiency of the framework was evaluated using first 2 levels of Kirkpatrick’s framework. Of 60 students, 51 (85%) responded to the survey assessing perception towards DL (Kirkpatrick’s Level 1). The survey-items, validated using exploratory factor analysis, were classified into 4-categories: computer expertise; DL-flexibility; DL-usefulness; and DL-satisfaction. The overall perception for the 4 categories, highlighted respondents’ overall satisfaction with the framework. Scores for specific survey-items attested that the framework promoted collaborative-learning and student-autonomy. For, Kirkpatrick’s Level 2 that is, cognitive-development, performance in FEB’s summative-assessment of students experiencing DL was compared with students taught using traditional methods. Similar, mean-scores for both groups indicated that shift to DL didn’t have an adverse effect on students’ learning. Conclusion: In conclusion, we present here the design, implementation and evaluation of a DL-framework, which is an efficient pedagogical approach, pertinent for medical schools to adopt (elaborated using Bourdieu’s Theory of Practice) to address students’ learning trajectories during unprecedented times such as that during the COVID-19 pandemia.

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