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Improving the Response Rate of Teaching Feedback by Introducing Exam Practice Questions – a Quality Improvement Project
- Bruce Tamilson, Abigail Swerdlow, Sonya Rudra
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- Journal:
- BJPsych Open / Volume 8 / Issue S1 / June 2022
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 20 June 2022, pp. S36-S37
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Aims
Aim: The quality improvement (QI) project aimed to improve the response rate of teaching feedback from medical students at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL). Background information: Universities and health care settings use students' feedback to improve the teaching and other services. The feedback is a valuable source to evaluate a service delivery and improvement. Following the COVID-19 pandemic a large majority of teaching switched to being held online. Feedback plays an important role in evaluating these new methods of teaching. However, response rates were noted to be low. This QI project aims to improve the response rate from students.
MethodsThe project was registered on LifeQI and carried out during the psychiatric teaching for 4th year medical students at QMUL. The team emphasized the importance of feedback to students and produced online feedback forms which are mobile-friendly and concise. These were provided to students immediately after lectures and in an email reminder. As a change idea, five multiple choice practice questions from the topics of the day were included as a follow-on activity from the feedback form, with the expectation that this would motivate the students to complete the feedback. The response rate was calculated as a percentage (number of responses/number of attendees x 100%) and compared before and after the change was introduced using the independent t-test.
ResultsIntroducing practice MCQs at the end of the feedback form resulted in a significant improvement: the response rate increased from 22.3% to 50%, more than doubled. The independent t-test found a significant increase in the number of feedback forms returned from the original rates (M = 13.8, SE = 3.0) to rates after practice questions were introduced into feedback (M = 30.6, SE = 1.7), t= -4.9 p = 0.001.
ConclusionStudents’ motivation to complete feedback plays a major role in the response rate of medical students’ feedback at QMUL. Adding five MCQs on the topics of the day to the feedback form has significantly increased the response rate of 4th year medical students at QMUL. This project was limited to 4th year medical students who received online psychiatric lectures. It is important to try other change ideas in future in order to compare the outcomes.
Improving Clinical Skills in Psychiatry Using Online Simulation
- Sonya Rudra, Abigail Swerdlow
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- Journal:
- BJPsych Open / Volume 8 / Issue S1 / June 2022
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 20 June 2022, p. S33
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Aims
The COVID-19 pandemic impacted medical education with teaching moving online. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether online simulation is an effective tool for the delivery of student psychiatric clinical skills teaching. This has important implications for the future planning of psychiatric clinical skills teaching.
Methods162 students were divided across nine online psychiatric simulation sessions held over a four month period. The sessions lasted 3.5 hours and consisted of three simulated scenarios with a professional actor and experienced facilitator. Students were asked to rate: confidence in taking a psychiatric history, conducting a mental state exam, formulating treatment plans, conducting risk assessment, assessing capacity and communicating with patients in psychiatry. Confidence ratings were completed pre and post session on Likert scale (1 = least confident, 10 = most confident). Students were also given the opportunity to provide qualitative feedback after the sessions. The study was conducted with permission from Associate Dean for Undergraduate Teaching and QMUL Centre Lead for Psychiatry.
Results137 (92.7%) of students attending the workshop completed pre-session questionnaire and 122 (82.4%) completed post-session questionnaire. 95.1% students rated workshops as good/very good. Pre and post confidence comparisons showed significant increases in average confidence for all questions from pre (M = 5.1, SE = 0.2) to post (M = 7.1, SE = 0.2), t = 10.7 p < 0.001. Paired t-tests were used to compare average pre and post-session results for individual questions from the same session. All questions showed significant increases in scores. Qualitative feedback indicated that students valued the opportunity to practice, obtain feedback and requested more sessions.
ConclusionResults show significant increases in confidence in psychiatric clinical skills using online psychiatric simulation. This supports our hypothesis that online simulation is an effective tool for delivery of student psychiatric clinical skills teaching. Students may benefit from online simulation increasing their confidence prior to attending psychiatric placements. This teaching method will also provide an additional method for practising clinical skills with increasing student numbers and demands on psychiatric placements. It therefore has important implications in the future of psychiatric education and could be adapted for use across clinical years and medical schools.
Co-Production of an Online Medical Student Conference: Inspiring Interest in Psychiatry
- Georgina Edgerley Harris, Sonya Rudra, Rachel Swain, Abigail Swerdlow
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- Journal:
- BJPsych Open / Volume 8 / Issue S1 / June 2022
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 20 June 2022, p. S36
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Aims
The aim of this project was to create a Pan-London event to increase awareness and enthusiasm of medical students for Psychiatry as a specialty. In addition to a longer term goal of ultimately increasing recruitment to the specialty once students qualify, this event aimed to bring Mental Health to the forefront of the minds of future doctors.
MethodsPsychiatry Teaching Fellows from different trusts created a virtual educational event targeted at medical students in all years across London universities. It was co-produced with the student Psychiatry Societies across the London Universities. This encouraged student engagement from the ground level and fostered an environment of collaboration between students and Doctors. The event was free to attend and was supported by the Royal College of Psychiatry, London Division. The conference programme showcased the various facets Psychiatry has to offer from a global perspective, including Women's Mental Health, Forensic Psychiatry, research and volunteering around the world.
ResultsThe conference welcomed 263 attendees. 92 of the attendees completed a feedback questionnaire at the end of the session. The majority of respondents were from London universities and fairly evenly distributed amongst medical school year groups. 99% of those completing the questionnaire found the session interesting (scoring 3 or more out of 5 on a 5 point Likert scale). 98% of respondents reported that they found the session widened their view of Psychiatry. 78% were already considering a career in Psychiatry. 96% felt more likely to pursue a career in Psychiatry following the conference (scoring 3 or more out of 5 on a 5 point Likert scale). Open-text feedback indicated that attendees had found the sessions interesting and particularly valued the range of topics.
ConclusionExtra-curricular events are a fantastic chance to broaden medical students’ views of the specialty of Psychiatry. A virtual platform creates opportunities for audiences to hear from a vast array of expert speakers, which might not otherwise be possible in person, and creates a community of like-minded students in a safe environment. Whether or not students go on to pursue the field themselves later on in their training, events such as this bring awareness of Psychiatry and its impacts to the foreground. It is hoped that, in future, further co-produced events between the Royal College of Psychiatry and university Psychiatry societies, can continue to inspire medical students.
Face-to-Face Psychiatry Placements and Their Impact on Student Attitudes to Psychiatry
- Abigail Swerdlow, Sonya Rudra
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- Journal:
- BJPsych Open / Volume 8 / Issue S1 / June 2022
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 20 June 2022, p. S36
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- Article
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- You have access Access
- Open access
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Aims
Last year the COVID-19 pandemic meant that there could not be any face-to-face psychiatry placements for medical students at QMUL (Queen Mary University of London). This year there has been a return to face-to-face placements within psychiatric settings. The aim of this project was to evaluate whether face-to-face placements have an impact on medical student attitudes to psychiatry. This will have implications for recruiting students into the specialty, once they qualify.
Methods128 students were placed in face-to-face psychiatric settings at the beginning of their 4th year of medical school. The placements were 3 days a week for 5 weeks. The placements varied with some students being placed in inpatient services and others within the community, across a broad range of subspecialties including child and adolescent, general adult and forensic. Students were given the Attitudes To Psychiatry Questionnaire to fill out before and after their placement. Students were also given the opportunity to provide open text feedback on their placement in the form of a weekly feedback form. Results were analysed using simple descriptives of data and paired t-tests. The study was conducted with permission from Associate Dean for Undergraduate Teaching and QMUL Centre Lead for Psychiatry.
Results115 students (89.8%) completed pre-placement attitudes to psychiatry questionnaire and 51 students (39.9%) completed the post-placement questionnaire.
Paired t-tests were used to compare average pre and post-placement results for individual questions. There were significant changes in student responses to questions about psychiatric undergraduate training being valuable, attitudes to psychiatrists and psychiatric treatment. Lots of students gave positive feedback on their placements citing interesting experiences, helpful seniors and varied learning opportunities.
ConclusionStudents having face-to-face psychiatry placements has objectively changed some attitudes to psychiatry and is very important for their experience and interest in the specialty. The students have valued the exposure and contact with patients and the varied experiences. This will hopefully lead to more students considering psychiatry as a career as well as keeping mental health as a priority for any patient that they see.