Making medical education great again: analysing trainee feedback to identify key drivers of trainee satisfaction and improve experience.

Objectives: The London School of Paediatrics (LSP) surveys trainees annually regarding their training placements. There is a wide variation in satisfaction. We explored the last 5 years of data to identify trends and determine predictors of overall trainee satisfaction.

Supervision, scheduling, satisfaction and shared working: how experiences of junior doctors relate to excess mortality within the NHS.

Background: We sought to explore associations between trainee doctor perception and excess patient mortality.

Methods: Data from two publicly available databases reflecting mortality and components of trainee satisfaction within 81 NHS healthcare institutions between the years 2012 and 2019 were analysed. Pearson's correlation coefficients were calculated.

Hospital Mortality and Trainee Experiences: How General Medical Council Survey Findings Correlate With Summary Hospital-Level Mortality Indicator.

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate whether components of junior doctor satisfaction are associated with patient mortality within the United Kingdom.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study of publicly available data (the General Medical Council [GMC] National Survey and the Summary Hospital-level Mortality Indicator [SHMI]) pertaining to subjective physician trainee satisfaction and patient mortality within 80 United Kingdom-based healthcare institutions. The direction and strength of correlation between components of the GMC National Survey and relative patient mortality as described by the SHMI were calculated.

Shielding during medical training: an exploration of effects, consequences and best practices.

Background: Shielding during the COVID-19 pandemic impacted postgraduate medical training, likely affecting between 7% and 14% of trainees. We examine the burden of shielding on this cohort and provide strategies for future working practices.

Methods: Seventeen postgraduate doctors in training took part in non-incentivised, virtual focus groups or interviews.

Medical students’ pattern of self-directed learning prior to and during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic period and its implications for Free Open Access Meducation within the United Kingdom.

Purpose: Self-directed learning (SDL) has been increasingly emphasized within medical education. However, little is known about the SDL resources medical students use. This study aimed to identify patterns in medical students’ SDL behaviors, their SDL resource choices, factors motivating these choices, and the potential impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on these variables.

The GMC national training survey: Does it have an impact?

The General Medical Council (GMC) national trainee survey (NTS) monitors junior doctor training experience annually, which is then used by organisations such as Health Education England to inform quality management. Its validity as an assessment of the learning environment to drive improvement is frequently questioned; currently there are no published evidence-based studies to demonstrate its impact. To explore the effects of the GMC survey, we carried out a retrospective cohort study using publicly available GMC NTS survey data.

Paediatric Free Open Access Meducation (FOAM): behaviours, trends and implications.

Introduction: Free Open Access Meducation (FOAM) describes online resources assisting learning in medicine. Little is known about users or their behaviours.

Methods: Using Google Analytics for a popular FOAM site (www.

Virtual patients designed for training against medical error: Exploring the impact of decision-making on learner motivation.

Objectives: Medical error is a significant cause of patient harms in clinical practice, but education and training are recognised as having a key role in minimising their incidence. The use of virtual patient (VP) activities targeting training in medical error allows learners to practice patient management in a safe environment. The inclusion of branched decision-making elements in the activities has the potential to drive additional generative cognitive processing and improved learning outcomes, but the increased cognitive load on learning risks negatively affecting learner motivation.

Vocal Cord Palsy in Children With Cancer: A 10-Year Analysis of UK Pediatric Intensive Care Admissions.

Vocal cord palsy (VCP) is a rare but potentially life-threatening complication in children with cancer. This study reviews UK Intensive Care admissions for children with cancer and VCP using data obtained from the Pediatric Intensive Care Audit Network (PICANet) database. 26 children with cancer and VCP were admitted to intensive care from 2002 to 2012.

Medical Student and Tutor Perceptions of Video Versus Text in an Interactive Online Virtual Patient for Problem-Based Learning: A Pilot Study.

Background: The impact of the use of video resources in primarily paper-based problem-based learning (PBL) settings has been widely explored. Although it can provide many benefits, the use of video can also hamper the critical thinking of learners in contexts where learners are developing clinical reasoning. However, the use of video has not been explored in the context of interactive virtual patients for PBL.

Exploring the efficacy of replacing linear paper-based patient cases in problem-based learning with dynamic Web-based virtual patients: randomized controlled trial.

Background: Problem-based learning (PBL) is well established in medical education and beyond, and continues to be developed and explored. Challenges include how to connect the somewhat abstract nature of classroom-based PBL with clinical practice and how to maintain learner engagement in the process of PBL over time.

Objective: A study was conducted to investigate the efficacy of decision-PBL (D-PBL), a variant form of PBL that replaces linear PBL cases with virtual patients.

Introducing physician assistants into an intensive care unit: process, problems, impact and recommendations.

The National Health Service (NHS) is facing substantial staffing challenges arising from reduced working hours, fewer trainees and more protected training of those trainees. Although increasing consultant-delivered care helps to meet these challenges, there remains a need to remodel the workforce. One component of the solution is physician assistants (PAs), who are professionals trained in patient assessment and care, working under the supervision of trained doctors.

Intensive care admissions for children with imported malaria in the United kingdom.

This study describes 977 children with imported malaria in England and Wales between 2004 and 2008, focusing on 29 (3.0%) patients admitted to intensive care, of whom 10 had cerebral malaria, 4 required inotropes, and 1 had concurrent septicemia. The remaining 14 were admitted for monitoring only.

Evaluating venepuncture practice on a general children's ward.

Aim: To assess the training for, practice of, and effects of venepuncture in children on a general children's ward. To identify approaches that might reduce the adverse physical and psychological effects related to venepuncture.

Methods: Questionnaire survey of 51 parents, 39 children and 72 junior doctors following venepuncture in the children.

Training staff to create simple interactive virtual patients: the impact on a medical and healthcare institution.

Background: Virtual patients (VPs) are excellent teaching tools for developing clinical decision-making skills and improving clinical competency, but are believed to be very expensive and time consuming to make.

Aim: The aim of this study was to establish whether it was possible to design a workshop for VP creation, which would enable teaching staff to create interactive, immersive VPs quickly, and with limited technical support.

Methods: The Centre for Medical and Healthcare Education at St George's University of London's (SGUL) medical school developed an ergonomic and generic 'model' for VP creation, simple enough for clinicians and educators to use, yet flexible enough to simulate real decisions through non-linear pathways.

Improving assessment with virtual patients.

Assessments should accurately predict future performance in a wide variety of settings yet be feasible to conduct. In medical education a robust and comprehensive system of assessment is essential to protect the public from inadequate professionals. The parameters for devising such an assessment are well-defined, and good practice for writing examinations well-established.

The replacement of 'paper' cases by interactive online virtual patients in problem-based learning.

St George's University of London (SGUL) has a Problem-Based Learning (PBL) curriculum for its undergraduate medicine course, using traditional paper-based patient cases. To counter the limitation that paper cases are linear and do not allow students to explore the consequences of decisions, interactive online virtual patients (VPs) were developed which allowed students to consider options as the cases unfold, and allow students to explore the consequences of their actions. A PBL module was converted to VPs, and delivered to 72 students in 10 tutorial groups, with 5 groups each week receiving VPs with options and consequences, and 5 groups receiving online VPs but without options.

Bacterial tracheitis: a multi-centre perspective.

The published literature on bacterial tracheitis is limited. We report the first multi-centre study of bacterial tracheitis together with a concise review of the literature. We conducted a retrospective study of cases admitted during the period 1993-2007 to 3 tertiary paediatric centres in the United Kingdom and 1 in Australia.