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Can You Teach Clinical Communication Virtually?
- Adam Montgomery, Faeez Ramjan, Alistair Cannon, Sae Kohara, Chloe Saunders, Deekshitha Umasankar, Lois Zac-Williams, Sophie Butler
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- Journal:
- BJPsych Open / Volume 9 / Issue S1 / July 2023
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 07 July 2023, p. S9
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- Article
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Aims
An extracurricular clinical communication course called PsychED Up, with a focus on Psychiatry, met with challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated social distancing requirements. The course is usually delivered face-to-face by a small team of doctors, medical students, actors and lived-experience practitioners, and consists of large-group teaching on a weekly topic, followed by small group simulations. A small-scale study was performed to evaluate whether conducting clinical communication teaching and simulation online was acceptable, effective and feasible.
MethodsTwelve students and ten faculty members participated in the online session, performing live clinical scenarios with simulated patients, over a two-hour period. Pre-and post-course questionnaires were designed with quantitative measures of confidence and qualitative questions about participants’ experience. Eight students completed both questionnaires. Questionnaire answers were analysed using a mixed-methods approach, with themes identified from the qualitative long answers, and statistical analysis of quantitative answers was also performed.
ResultsStudents found the session beneficial, with all indicating that they would sign up for a full online course. Based on answers to the quantitative questions, 50% of students felt more prepared for their clinical examinations. (p = 0.046). However, all participants noted a reduction in their ability to read non-verbal cues and body language. Returning students found they were less attentive during the session compared with the original face-to-face teaching (p = 0.05). Actors and faculty members found that the online course was feasible, acceptable and effective. However, most agreed that it was not preferable to teaching clinical communication skills face to face. Technological issues were minimal.
ConclusionThe majority of students and faculty found the session both beneficial and enjoyable, but felt face to face sessions would be more helpful in teaching clinical communication. Student attentiveness and awareness of non-verbal cues were highlighted as concerns. However, students generally responded positively to the online course, particularly the quality and diversity of peer feedback. Teaching clinical communication virtually has the potential to be successful, and has implications for future undergraduate medical teaching.
Collaborative development of course feedback with students for Psyched Up. Put more in, get more out
- Lois Zac-Williams, Alistair Cannon, Chloe Saunders, Shuo Zhang, Sae Kohara
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- Journal:
- BJPsych Open / Volume 7 / Issue S1 / June 2021
- Published online by Cambridge University Press:
- 18 June 2021, p. S163
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- Article
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- You have access Access
- Open access
- Export citation
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Aims
To develop a responsive and sustainable template for long-term course evaluation for PsychED Up
To obtain rich, meaningful and specific feedback across multiple domains which can be translated into course improvements
To work collaboratively with students interested in medical education having previously participated in the course
To empower current students with the knowledge that their input is valuable
BackgroundPsychED Up is an innovative extra-curricular course for 3rd year medical students at King's College London delivered by psychiatry trainees, senior students and actors. It is in its second year of running and focuses on the hidden curriculum in medicine, exploration of holistic care and communication skills at the mind-body interface. Input from people with lived experience is used to shape teaching.
MethodEmbedded evaluation in course development sessions thus engaging the entire faculty in evaluation processes at the start of the new term
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Decided evaluation focus
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Face-to-face discussions
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Survey for faculty to determine what specific feedback content would be most useful
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Finalised the questionnaire
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Collaborative design and refinement of questions, confirmed sub-sections and scope of questionnaire
ResultRevised questionnaire:
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Included rationale at the start
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Tailored questions so faculty have more useful responses
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Greater quantity of prompted questions
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Specific questions for large group presentation, small group teaching, actors’ performances and students’ reflections
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Thoughtful combination of quantitative ratings and open-space questions
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Reduced time between course sessions and obtainment of feedback
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Quality and quantity of feedback
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High response rates: 32/30 (2 duplicates) mid-term, 29/30 end-of-term
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High-quality filling of open-space feedback allowed consolidation of themes to improve the course
ConclusionCo-designing the feedback form with previous students from the course and faculty brought focus to the questions. They were more specific and were organised into sub-sections for different domains. This led to responses that were relevant, enriched with depth and breadth and provided faculty with richer, more personalised responses. More detailed reflections in feedback were thought to be due to better student understanding of the rationale for questions, and knowledge that their input would help improve the course. We have set up a robust system for collecting long-term feedback for PsychED Up. We will continue to make iterative amendments, and supplement questionnaire feedback with focus groups.
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