Research Roundup – DEC 2018

Finishing the year with a bang! In this month’s Research RoundUp we present the paper on the Supervisory Relationship Measure, let you know how mobile devices can best be used in clinical placements, provide the valuable tips on giving feedback to your peers, and finish with a dose of festive kindness!

Adapting the supervisory relationship measure for general medical practice

In last month’s Research Roundup, we put in a plug for the GP Supervisory Relationship Measures – one for Supervisors (GP-SRMS), one for Registrars (GP-SRMR).

We now have a published paper on the GP-SRMS.

You can read it here: https://rdcu.be/bb6rW

And the tools are here:

GP SRMS

https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.7034750

And the registrar version here, should your registrar wish to do likewise.

GP SRMR

https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.7132100

What works best for health professions students using mobile devices for educational support on clinical placement?

This wonderful guide by Maudsley et al will get all you tech-savvy supervisors excited about how best to use these beasties!

It’s a great paper that looks at all the evidence on how best to use mobile devices in clinical placements.

The findings cover the broad types of devices, use and functions including ‘just in time’ aspect.

The evidence is presented regarding:

• logging clinical activity, workplace-based assessment and tracking competencies
• self-regulated learning and other aspects of learning and translation
• alternative uses to support learning
• concerns in the clinical setting and professional identity, covering what might staff think? What might patients think? Distractions and busy setting and benefits for others.
• Intervention studies
• Theses on the topic
• Best policy for using mobile devices.

They find that mobile devices have particular supported student assessment, communication, clinical decision making, logbook/notetaking, and access to information.

And the final recommendations regarding practice?

• An explicit policy on how health professions students should use mobile devices in the clinical setting,
• The policy to cover aspects such as: infection control, confidentiality and security
• Positive role modeling by staff and educators
• Training in best use of the device and associated applications.

The authors also provide recommendations on further research that are well worth a read.

Read all about it here: https://doi.org/10.1080/0142159X.2018.1508829

Twelve tips for providing feedback to peers about their teaching

Now it’s well known that providing feedback  to registrars is bread and butter work for supervisors.

Newman, Roberts and Frankl argue, however, that providing feedback to peers is a very different kettle of fish.

They note two models: expert-to-novice teaching (for evaluation purposes); and peer-to-peer (for formative, collaborative purposes).

They define peer observers as colleagues sharing the same goals of reflective practice, identifying best methods for teaching and solving problems through discussion of a teaching encounter.

They argue that peer observations can lead to a collective culture change.

So what are the tips?

1. Choose your words wisely
2. Let the host determine the direction of the discussion
3. Keep feedback confidential and formative
4. Focus feedback on teaching skills, not the teacher as a person
5. Get to know your colleague
6. Check-in – be aware of self and others
7. Pronouns play a powerful role in feedback (i.e. you, I and we, for those who’ve forgotten their grammar!)
8. Use questions to uncover teaching perspectives
9. Be aware of common biases
10. Establish credibility in the peer observation and feedback process
11. Make teaching observations a win-win
12. Conclude with an action plan.

Go forth and feed back!!!

Read all the detail here by cuttinng and pasting link in your browser: https://doi.org/10.1080/0142159X.2018.1521953

And to finish the year and in keeping with the festive season, here is a great paper that promotes kindness.

Show a little kindness

This reflection piece by Brewster and Waxman encourages all clinicians to just be a little kinder. They draw on the concept of the ISBAR for clinical handover (introduction, situation, background, assessment and recommendation) and suggest adding a little kindness to it to create the K-ISBAR.

They challenge all to use the K-ISBAR approach at clinical handover.

Worth reading? Worth doing! And couldn’t we all do with a little more kindness in our workplace?

https://doi.org/10.5694/mja18.00755

That’s it from Research Roundup for 2018!