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A novel student-selected component in medical admissions
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‘Care Factor’ was a one-day workshop that con- sisted of two parts: six keynote speakers and a 2-hour workshop respectively. The speakers discussed topics relating to well-being under titles such as ‘How to convince a medical student to seek help’, as well as personal anecdotes aimed at normalising experi- ences of stress and distress. The workshop was moderated by the Medical Director of the Victorian Doctors’ Health Program, who is a psychiatrist and educator. Students broke into groups to discuss how they would help a distressed colleague in an allocated scenario (including drama queen, lazy student, narcissist, party animal, perfectionist or shy student). Groups then role-played both beneficial and poor methods of helping that colleague in front of all attendees. These presentations incorporated humour, personal experiences and principles gained from the keynote speakers. Further discussions followed. What lessons were learned? Seventy medical students attended Care Factor, with the majority completing a quantitative and qualitative evaluation at the conclusion. A total of 76% of respondents had previously supported a colleague experiencing stress and distress, and 89% of this group felt that Care Factor would make them feel more comfortable in providing future support. 94% of respondents said they would recommend Care Factor to colleagues. All respondents felt they would be able to apply what they had learned about colleagues experiencing stress and distress to themselves. Overall, 88% of respondents felt Care Factor would change their approach to their own stress and distress. Reasons included: ‘I will be more likely to recognise the warning signs in myself too’, and ‘I know that it is common and won’t feel ashamed if I need to ask for help.’ The Australian Medical Students’ Association now plans to promote the organisation of similar work- shops at other medical schools. REFERENCE 1 Hillis JM, Perry WRG, Carroll EY, Hibble BA, Davies MJ, Yousef J. Painting the picture: Australasian medical student views on well-being teaching and support services. Med J Aust 2010;4:188–90. Correspondence: Dr James Hillis, Australian Medical Association Victoria, 293 Royal Parade, Parkville 3052, Victoria, Australia. Tel: 00 61 3 9280 8722; Fax: 00 61 3 9280 8786; E-mail: james [email protected] doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2923.2012.04229.x A novel student-selected component in medical admissions Aileen O’Brien, Clarissa Young & Alice Lomax What problems were addressed? Based on objective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs), multiple mini-interviews (MMIs) are being used increasingly to assess candidates for entry to medical school. Our medical school has used MMIs for 3 years. It has proved a challenge for the admissions team, which consists of administrative staff and doctors, to devise new stations assessing the competencies required. Thus far, the team has written stations and then piloted them on medical students, but no students have been involved in their development. It was felt that students might offer fresh insights. The medical school runs a student-selected com- ponent (SSC) in Year 4 comprising a 6-week project assessed by a poster and viva. Medical education SSCs have proved popular and it was felt that such an SSC might be used to introduce students to the principles of assessment, as well as potentially to produce new stations. The development of MMI stations was therefore offered as an SSC in 2011. What was tried? After discussions with the admissions team, a review of the literature and the examination of current stations, two students developed four stations each and ran an eight- station trial MMI. The most difficult challenge involved deciding the pilot subjects. Ethical issues arose regarding the use of any students who might apply to the medical school (such as the current biomedical science students). Although ‘leakage’ of questions has not been shown to impact on results, 1 it was felt that experience of the trial might proffer an unfair advantage. A pragmatic decision was therefore made to pilot the stations using students in Year 4 who had been admitted via interview rather than by the MMI process. The pilot was very efficiently organised by the two students and the stations were well written and innovative. The two students and six doctors acted as interviewers. Stations were tested for practicalities such as timing. Views regarding the stations were assessed using Likert scales, and discussion in a feedback session was audiotaped and transcribed. What lessons were learned? Feedback about the whole experience was positive. One practical station was not felt to be usable, five required minor changes and two were felt to be fit for use unchanged. Some were felt to be slightly too medical and needed to be made more generic. 510 Ó Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2012. MEDICAL EDUCATION 2012; 46: 501–527 really good stuff
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Transcript of A novel student-selected component in medical admissions
‘Care Factor’ was a one-day workshop that con-sisted of two parts: six keynote speakers and a 2-hourworkshop respectively. The speakers discussed topicsrelating to well-being under titles such as ‘How toconvince a medical student to seek help’, as well aspersonal anecdotes aimed at normalising experi-ences of stress and distress. The workshop wasmoderated by the Medical Director of the VictorianDoctors’ Health Program, who is a psychiatrist andeducator. Students broke into groups to discuss howthey would help a distressed colleague in anallocated scenario (including drama queen, lazystudent, narcissist, party animal, perfectionist or shystudent). Groups then role-played both beneficialand poor methods of helping that colleague in frontof all attendees. These presentations incorporatedhumour, personal experiences and principles gainedfrom the keynote speakers. Further discussionsfollowed.What lessons were learned? Seventy medical studentsattended Care Factor, with the majority completing aquantitative and qualitative evaluation at theconclusion. A total of 76% of respondents hadpreviously supported a colleague experiencing stressand distress, and 89% of this group felt that CareFactor would make them feel more comfortable inproviding future support. 94% of respondents saidthey would recommend Care Factor to colleagues. Allrespondents felt they would be able to apply what theyhad learned about colleagues experiencing stress anddistress to themselves.
Overall, 88% of respondents felt Care Factor wouldchange their approach to their own stress anddistress. Reasons included: ‘I will be more likelyto recognise the warning signs in myself too’, and‘I know that it is common and won’t feel ashamed ifI need to ask for help.’
The Australian Medical Students’ Association nowplans to promote the organisation of similar work-shops at other medical schools.
REFERENCE
1 Hillis JM, Perry WRG, Carroll EY, Hibble BA, Davies MJ,Yousef J. Painting the picture: Australasian medicalstudent views on well-being teaching and support services.Med J Aust 2010;4:188–90.
Correspondence: Dr James Hillis, Australian Medical AssociationVictoria, 293 Royal Parade, Parkville 3052, Victoria, Australia.Tel: 00 61 3 9280 8722; Fax: 00 61 3 9280 8786; E-mail: [email protected]
doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2923.2012.04229.x
A novel student-selected component in medicaladmissions
Aileen O’Brien, Clarissa Young & Alice Lomax
What problems were addressed? Based on objectivestructured clinical examinations (OSCEs), multiplemini-interviews (MMIs) are being used increasingly toassess candidates for entry to medical school. Ourmedical school has used MMIs for 3 years. It hasproved a challenge for the admissions team, whichconsists of administrative staff and doctors, to devisenew stations assessing the competencies required.Thus far, the team has written stations and thenpiloted them on medical students, but no studentshave been involved in their development. It wasfelt that students might offer fresh insights.
The medical school runs a student-selected com-ponent (SSC) in Year 4 comprising a 6-week projectassessed by a poster and viva. Medical education SSCshave proved popular and it was felt that such anSSC might be used to introduce students to theprinciples of assessment, as well as potentially toproduce new stations. The development of MMIstations was therefore offered as an SSC in 2011.What was tried? After discussions with theadmissions team, a review of the literature and theexamination of current stations, two studentsdeveloped four stations each and ran an eight-station trial MMI. The most difficult challengeinvolved deciding the pilot subjects. Ethical issuesarose regarding the use of any students who mightapply to the medical school (such as the currentbiomedical science students). Although ‘leakage’ ofquestions has not been shown to impact on results,1
it was felt that experience of the trial might profferan unfair advantage. A pragmatic decision wastherefore made to pilot the stations using studentsin Year 4 who had been admitted via interviewrather than by the MMI process.
The pilot was very efficiently organised by the twostudents and the stations were well written andinnovative. The two students and six doctors acted asinterviewers. Stations were tested for practicalitiessuch as timing. Views regarding the stations wereassessed using Likert scales, and discussion in afeedback session was audiotaped and transcribed.What lessons were learned? Feedback about thewhole experience was positive. One practical stationwas not felt to be usable, five required minor changesand two were felt to be fit for use unchanged. Somewere felt to be slightly too medical and needed to bemade more generic.
510 � Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2012. MEDICAL EDUCATION 2012; 46: 501–527
really good stuff
The students were very positive about the SSC andfascinated by the process. One student reflected thatshe had had very high expectations of students’performance on the stations she had devised and feltthat the process had given her insight into the highstandards she sets herself. Both students felt that theexperience was useful for preparation for OSCEs. Sevenof the stations are to be used in future MMIs and we planto continue to offer this SSC. The challenge in findingappropriate subjects for the pilot trials remains.
REFERENCE
1 Reiter HI, Salvatori P, Rosenfeld J, Trinh K, Eva KW. Theeffect of defined violations of test security on admissionsoutcomes using multiple mini-interviews. Med Educ2006;40 (1):36–42.
Correspondence: Dr Aileen O’Brien, Department of Mental Health,St George’s University of London, Cranmer Terrace, LondonSW17 ORE, UK. Tel: 00 44 208 725 5525; Fax: 00 44 208 725 3538;E-mail: [email protected]
doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2923.2012.04224.x
Empowering students to become involved inmedical education
Raphael Buttigieg, Margot Weggemans &Robbert Duvivier
What problems were addressed? Medical students areimportant stakeholders in their own education andtherefore in the quality of future doctors and healthcare.1 The participation of students in restructuringand improving their education differs from countryto country and from university to university.Responses to exploratory questionnairesadministered to student representatives from 102countries indicated that medical students do not feelsufficiently capable to involve themselves incurriculum governance and quality assurance(I Goganau and M Weggemans, InternationalFederation of Medical Students’ Associations IFMSA,unpublished data, 2011).What was tried? We developed a 3-day peer-to-peertraining workshop for medical students designatedthe ‘Medical Education Development InternationalKit–Training’ (MEDIK-T). These workshops wereheld during international meetings of theInternational Federation of Medical Students’Associations (IFMSA).
We identified the following aims: (i) to provide coreknowledge of medical education; (ii) to developpersonal skills in participants that would enable themto become agents of change; (iii) to improve partici-pants’ work in their home countries and enable themto pass on the skills at national and local levels, and (iv)to provide a platform for exchanging best practices.
We used various teaching methods on a wide rangeof topics (e.g. adult learning theory and assessment).All sessions were facilitated by medical students, withadditional support from expert teachers. We incorpo-rated generic skills, such as project management,strategic planning and public speaking, to empowerparticipants to use their knowledge for meaningfulaction.
We have held three MEDIK-Ts at IFMSA generalassemblies since 2009, with a total of 86 participants.National MEDIK-Ts are now being developed andpiloted. Students’ evaluations have been consistentlypositive, with mean scores of 4 out of 5 for usefulness,relevancy of topics and the quality of teaching for allsessions.What lessons were learned? The MEDIK-Ts usingpeer education sessions empower medical studentsand improve their participation in medical education.Areas that require improvement include encouragingmore attendees from developing countries, theprovision of follow-up when students return homeand sustainability.
Participation has been skewed in favour of Euro-pean countries; global representation not onlyenriches the workshops by providing other perspec-tives, but also contributes to equality in medicaleducation. Funding to support students from devel-oping countries is difficult to obtain.
Upon their return to their home institutions,participants are encouraged to use their newly gainedskills and knowledge for change. Online communi-cation tools enable participants to share experiencesand provide tips. All resources were made availablefor further reference. Follow-up with participants hasproved difficult as a result of their academic obliga-tions and high turnover in student bodies. We wereunable to evaluate the local impact of our workshops;change is hard to measure. The initial aim to haveparticipants at international MEDIK-Ts organise sim-ilar workshops at local or national level was hinderedby lack of local support.
REFERENCE
1 Duvivier R, Rodriguez Munoz D. La Participacion de losEstudiantes en la Educacion Medica. Educaciœn Medica2010;13(4):223–7.
� Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2012. MEDICAL EDUCATION 2012; 46: 501–527 511
really good stuff
