We outline benefits and problems of introducing internet-based approaches (e.g. e-learning, social networking) into journal clubs. We also look at potential risks to the continuing existence of clubs posed by the changing health economy and the move in psychiatry from clinical medicine to community care. Overall, we are optimistic for the journal club’s survival. Login using your SSSFT NHS OpenAthens for full text. SSOTP - request a copy of the article from the library - http://bit.ly/1Xyazai
Health Education England e-Learning for Healthcare (HEE e-LfH) has added the e-LfH Hub and its thousands of e-learning sessions to the list of OpenAthens resources to make it easier for certain groups of the health and social care workforce to access e-LfH’s e-learning.
This article is aimed primarily at psychiatry trainees, MRCPsych course organisers, College tutors, educational supervisors and clinical supervisors. It describes recent changes to the MRCPsych curriculum and examinations and discusses the different approaches that educators can utilise to best help their trainees. We describe how the content of MRCPsych courses can help prepare trainees for both the written papers and the clinical assessment of skills and competencies (CASC). We discuss ways of incorporating patients and carers into course development, innovative approaches using technology to enhance learning, the role of workplace-based assessments and how international graduates may maximise their pass rate. Login using your SSSFT NHS OpenAthens for full text. SSOTP - request a copy of the article from the library - http://bit.ly/1Xyazai
This article is a practical guide for psychiatrists who want to apply basic and straightforward statistics in their research. It describes ways of summarising data and provides an overview of statistical tests for comparing patients’ characteristics. Measures of association such as correlation and regression are also explained, along with principal components analysis, a method for reducing the dimensionality of data. Explanations are clarified using data from the published studies. Login using your SSSFT NHS OpenAthens for full text. SSOTP - You can request a copy of this article by replying to this email. Please ensure you are clear which article you are requesting.
Letter. Dr Launer provides significant insight into the challenges faced by doctors in his article ‘Managing the threat to reflective writing’.1 In particular, attention has been focused on the approaches to sustain reflective practice in postgraduate education.
As a junior doctor, I volunteered to become a reflective writing tutor for medical students in first year clinical training. Students were given constructive guidance for these assignments, including examples of the different models used in reflective practice; the Gibbs’ cycle (description, feelings, evaluation, analysis, conclusions and actions) was highlighted as an exemplar framework.2 My task was then to provide feedback to students on reflective writing pieces through the year and award an overall score. But can we—or should we—grade reflective writing? . To read the full article, log in using your NHS OpenAthens details.
Health Education England (HEE) will work jointly with NHS Improvement to develop HEE’s mandate for 2019/20 onwards. HEE’s board will continue to sign-off the draft mandate, but as a new step the mandate will then need to be approved by NHS Improvement’s board to ensure it meets service requirements, before approval by the Secretary of State. This will ensure that workforce plans are more closely aligned with NHS service plans.
We have published new resources dedicated to work-based learning.
The new web section and infographic aims to support employers with understanding the key elements which need to be in place to successfully enable a culture of work-based learning, such as when implementing apprenticeships.
The resources cover topics from senior leadership and management buy-in, to infrastructure, workforce planning and robust relationships with education providers.
Smartphones are ubiquitous and commonly used as a learning and information resource. They have potential to revolutionize medical education and medical practice. The iDoc project provides a medical textbook smartphone app to newly-qualified doctors working in Wales. The project was designed to assist doctors in their transition from medical school to workplace, a period associated with high levels of cognitive demand and stress.
Open access. This scoping review aims to gather and map inspiration, ideas and recommendations for teaching evidence-based practice across Professional Bachelor Degree healthcare programmes by mapping literature describing evidence-based practice teaching methods for undergraduate healthcare students including the steps suggested by the Sicily Statement. A computer-assisted literature search using PubMed, Cinahl, PsycINFO, and OpenGrey covering health, education and grey literature was performed. Literature published before 2010 was excluded. Students should be attending either a Professional Bachelor’s degree or a Bachelor’s degree programme. Full-text articles were screened by pairs of reviewers and data extracted regarding: study characteristics and key methods of teaching evidence-based practice. Study characteristics were described narratively. Thematic analysis identified key methods for teaching evidence-based practice, while full-text revisions identified the use of the Sicily Statement’s five steps and context. The database search identified 2220 records. One hundred ninety-two records were eligible for full-text assessment and 81 studies were included. Studies were conducted from 2010 to 2018. Approximately half of the studies were undertaken in the USA. Study designs were primarily qualitative and participants mainly nursing students. Seven key methods for teaching evidence-based practice were identified. Research courses and workshops, Collaboration with clinical practice and IT technology were the key methods most frequently identified. Journal clubs and Embedded librarians were referred to the least. The majority of the methods included 2–4 of the Sicily Statement’s five steps, while few methods referred to all five steps. This scoping review has provided an extensive overview of literature describing methods for teaching EBP regarding undergraduate healthcare students. The two key methods Research courses and workshops and Collaboration with clinical practice are advantageous methods for teaching undergraduate healthcare students evidence-based practice; incorporating many of the Sicily Statement’s five steps. Unlike the Research courses and workshop methods, the last step of evaluation is carried out partly or entirely in a clinical context. Journal clubs and Embedded librarians should be further investigated as methods to reinforce existing methods of teaching. Future research should focus on methods for teaching EBP that incorporate as many of the five steps of teaching and conducting EBP as possible.
Open access. The number of resources available to medical students studying a degree in medicine is growing exponentially. In addition to traditional learning resources such as lectures and textbooks, students are increasingly using e-learning tools like commercially available question banks to supplement their learning. Student preference for learning resources has not been described in detail, and a better understanding of the tools perceived to be useful could provide essential information to medical educators when designing and implementing medical curricula.
Open access. Book review. MCQs in Psychiatry for Medical Students By John Lally and John Tully. RCPsych Publications, 2016, £18.00 (£16.20 for College members), pb, 224 pp. ISBN: 9781909726482
Love them or loathe them, most medical student written examinations now take the form of multiple choice questions (MCQs). Some medical educators dislike this assessment style, suggesting it encourages students to learn isolated facts in a superficial way. Yet, undeniably, MCQs provide an objective, time-efficient manner of evaluation. To read a copy of the book in this review, please contact the library
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Conclusions: Serious gaming/gamification appears to be at least as effective as controls, and in many studies, more effective for improving knowledge, skills, and satisfaction. However, the available evidence is mostly of low quality and calls for further rigorous, theory-driven research
Opinion and comments on a recent book on learning organisations and the changing form of learning. To read the full article, log in using your NHS OpenAthens details.
Open access. Evidence-informed practice is fundamental to the delivery of high quality health care. Delays and gaps in the translation of research into practice can impact negatively on patient care. Previous studies have reported that problems facing health care professionals such as information overload, underdeveloped critical appraisal skills, lack of time and other individual, organisational and system-level contextual factors are barriers to the uptake of evidence. Health services research in this area has been restricted largely to the evaluation of program outcomes. This paper aims to describe the implementation process of an educational initiative for health care professionals working in midwifery, neonatology or obstetrics aimed at disseminating evidence and enhancing evidence-informed clinical care.
Open access. The translation of research into clinical practice is a key component of evidence-informed decision making. We implemented a multi-component dissemination and implementation strategy for healthcare professionals (HCPs) called Evidence Rounds. We report the findings of focus groups and interviews with HCPs to explore their perceptions of Evidence Rounds and help inform the implementation of future similar initiatives. This is the second paper in a two-part series.