Joanne P.I. Fokkema

Clarifying students' feedback-seeking behaviour in clinical clerkships

Context  Why and how do students seek feedback on their performance in the clinical workplace and which factors influence this? These questions have remained largely unanswered in research into workplace learning during clinical clerkships. Research on feedback has focused mainly on feedback providers. Whether and how feedback recipients actively seek feedback are under‐examined issues. Research in organisational psychology has proposed a mechanism whereby feedback seeking is influenced by motives and goal orientation mediated by the perceived costs and benefits of feedback. Building on a recently published model of resident doctors’ feedback‐seeking behaviour, we conducted a qualitative study to explore students’ feedback‐seeking behaviours in the clinical workplace.

The transition to hospital consultant and the influence of preparedness, social support, and perception: A structural equation modelling approach

Background: Insight into the transition from specialist registrar to hospital consultant is needed to better align specialty training with starting as a consultant and to facilitate this transition. Aims: This study investigates whether preparedness regarding medical and generic competencies, perceived intensity, and social support are associated with burnout among new consultants. Method: A population-based study among all 2643 new consultants in the Netherlands (all specialties) was conducted in June 2010. A questionnaire covering preparedness for practice, intensity of the transition, social support, and burnout was used. Structural equation modelling was used for statistical analysis. Results: Data from a third of the population were available (32% n = 840) (43% male/57% female). Preparation in generic competencies received lower ratings than in medical competencies. A total of 10% met the criteria for burnout and 18% scored high on the emotional exhaustion subscale. Perceived lack of preparation in generic competencies correlated with burnout (r = 0.15, p < 0.001). No such relation was found for medical competencies. Furthermore, social support protected against burnout. Conclusions: These findings illustrate the relevance of generic competencies for new hospital consultants. Furthermore, social support facilitates this intense and stressful stage within the medical career.

Exploration of perceived effects of innovations in postgraduate medical education

Context  Many studies have examined how educational innovations in postgraduate medical education (PGME) impact on teaching and learning, but little is known about effects in the clinical workplace outside the strictly education‐related domain. Insights into the full scope of effects may facilitate the implementation and acceptance of innovations because expectations can be made more realistic, and difficulties and pitfalls anticipated. Using workplace‐based assessment (WBA) as a reference case, this study aimed to determine which types of effect are perceived by users of innovations in PGME.

The CanMEDS framework: Relevant but not quite the whole story

Background: Despite acknowledgement that the Canadian Medical Educational Directives for Specialists (CanMEDS) framework covers the relevant competencies of physicians, many educators and medical professionals struggle to translate the CanMEDS roles into comprehensive training programmes for specific specialties. Aim: To gain insight into the applicability of the CanMEDS framework to guide the design of educational programmes for specific specialties by exploring stakeholders’ perceptions of specialty specific competencies and examining differences between those competencies and the CanMEDS framework. Methods: This case study is a sequel to a study among ObsGyn specialists. It explores the perspectives of patients, midwives, nurses, general practitioners, and hospital boards on gynaecological competencies and compares these with the CanMEDS framework. Results: Clinical expertise, reflective practice, collaboration, a holistic view, and involvement in practice management were perceived to be important competencies for gynaecological practice. Although all the competencies were covered by the CanMEDS framework, there were some mismatches between stakeholders’ perceptions of the importance of some competencies and their position in the framework. Conclusion: The CanMEDS framework appears to offer relevant building blocks for specialty specific postgraduate training, which should be combined with the results of an exploration of specialty specific competencies to arrive at a postgraduate curriculum that is in alignment with professional practice.

Perceived effects of innovations in postgraduate medical education: a Q study focusing on workplace-based assessment.

Purpose Anticipating users’ perceptions of the effects an innovation will have in daily practice prior to implementation may lead to a more optimal innovation process. In this study, the authors aimed to identify the kinds of perceptions that exist concerning the effects of workplace-based assessment (WBA), an innovation that is widely used in medical education, among its users. Method In 2012, the authors used Q methodology to ascertain the principal user perceptions of effects of WBA in practice. Participating obstetrics–gynecology residents and attending physicians (including residency program directors) at six hospitals in the Netherlands performed individual Q sorts to rank 36 statements concerning WBA and WBA tools according to their level of agreement. The authors conducted by-person factor analysis to uncover patterns in the rankings of the statements. They used the statistical results and participant comments about their sorts to interpret and describe distinct perceptions. Results The analysis of 65 Q sorts (completed by 22 residents and 43 attendings) identified five distinct user perceptions regarding the effects of WBA in practice, which the authors labeled enthusiasm, compliance, effort, neutrality, and skepticism. These perceptions were characterized by differences in views on three main issues: the intended goals of the innovation, its applicability (ease of applying it to practice), and its actual impact. Conclusions User perceptions of the effects of innovations in medical education can be typified and should be anticipated. This study’s insights into five principal user perceptions can support the design and implementation of innovations in medical education.

How lead consultants approach educational change in postgraduate medical education.

Medical Education 2012: 46: 390–398

The transition to hospital consultant: Denmark and the Netherlands compared on preparedness for practice, perceived intensity and contextual factors

Introduction: Danish and Dutch new consultants’ perceptions regarding the transition to consultant were compared to gain insight into this period, particularly the influence of contextual factors concerning the organisation of specialty training and health care therein. Preparation for medical and generic competencies, perceived intensity and burnout were compared. Additionally, effects of differences in working conditions and cultural dimensions were explored. Methods: All consultants registered in the Netherlands in 2007–2009 (n = 2643) and Denmark in 2007–2010 (n = 1336) received in June 2010 and April 2011, respectively, a survey about their preparation for medical and generic competencies, perceived intensity and burnout. Power analysis resulted in required sample sizes of 542. Descriptive statistics and independent t-tests were used for analysis. Results: Data were available of 792 new consultants in the Netherlands and 677 Danish new consultants. Compared to their Dutch counterparts, Danish consultants perceived specialty training and the transition less intensely, reported higher levels of preparation for generic competencies and scored lower on burnout. Conclusions: The importance of contextual aspects in the transition is underscored and shows that Denmark appears to succeed better in aligning training with practice. Regulations regarding working hours and progressive independence of trainees appear to facilitate the transition.

New consultants mastering the role of on-call supervisor: a longitudinal qualitative study

Context  The supervision of specialty registrars during on‐call shifts is essential to ensure the quality of both health care and medical education, but has been identified as a major novelty and stressor for new consultants in the transition from specialty training. There is a paucity of research on how consultants deal with their new supervisory roles and which factors influence this process. These issues are addressed in a prospective study designed to gather insights that can inform measures to ensure the provision of high‐quality supervision and specialty training.

Is the modernisation of postgraduate medical training in the Netherlands successful? Views of the NVMO Special Interest Group on Postgraduate Medical Education

Background: Worldwide, the modernisation of medical education is leading to the design and implementation of new postgraduate curricula. In this article, the Special Interest Group for postgraduate medical education of the Netherlands Association for Medical Education (NVMO) reports on the experiences in the Netherlands. Aim: To provide insight into the shift in the aims of postgraduate training, as well as into the diffusion of distinct curricular activities, introduced during the process of modernisation. Methods: Based on three levels of training described by Frenk et al., the process of modernisation in the Netherlands is reviewed in a narrative way, using the expert views of the NVMO-SIG on PGME as a source of information. Results: Educational science has effectively been incorporated and has until now mainly been applied on the level of informative learning to create ‘medical expertise’. Implementing change on the level of formative learning for ‘professional performance’ has until now been a slow and arduous process, but the concept of reflection on practice has been firmly embraced. The training on the level of transformative learning is still in its early stages. Conclusion and recommendations: The discussion about the aims of modern medical education could benefit from a more structured and transdisciplinary approach. Research is warranted on the interface between health care provision and those sciences that specialise in generic professional skills and in the societal context. Training professionals and educating ‘enlightened change agents’ for transformation in health care requires more governance and support from academic leaders with a broader perspective on the future of health care.

Cultural diversity: blind spot in medical curriculum documents, a document analysis

BackgroundCultural diversity among patients presents specific challenges to physicians. Therefore, cultural diversity training is needed in medical education. In cases where strategic curriculum documents form the basis of medical training it is expected that the topic of cultural diversity is included in these documents, especially if these have been recently updated. The aim of this study was to assess the current formal status of cultural diversity training in the Netherlands, which is a multi-ethnic country with recently updated medical curriculum documents.MethodsIn February and March 2013, a document analysis was performed of strategic curriculum documents for undergraduate and postgraduate medical education in the Netherlands. All text phrases that referred to cultural diversity were extracted from these documents. Subsequently, these phrases were sorted into objectives, training methods or evaluation tools to assess how they contributed to adequate curriculum design.ResultsOf a total of 52 documents, 33 documents contained phrases with information about cultural diversity training. Cultural diversity aspects were more prominently described in the curriculum documents for undergraduate education than in those for postgraduate education. The most specific information about cultural diversity was found in the blueprint for undergraduate medical education. In the postgraduate curriculum documents, attention to cultural diversity differed among specialties and was mainly superficial.ConclusionsCultural diversity is an underrepresented topic in the Dutch documents that form the basis for actual medical training, although the documents have been updated recently. Attention to the topic is thus unwarranted. This situation does not fit the demand of a multi-ethnic society for doctors with cultural diversity competences. Multi-ethnic countries should be critical on the content of the bases for their medical educational curricula.