Sarah Frandsen Gran

Triangulation of written assessments from patients, teachers and students: Useful for students and teachers?

Background: Many medical students in general practice clerkships experience lack of observation-based feedback. The StudentPEP project combined written feedback from patients, observing teachers and students. Aim: This study analyzes the perceived usefulness of triangulated written feedback. Methods: A total of 71 general practitioners and 79 medical students at the University of Oslo completed project evaluation forms after a 6-week clerkship. A principal component analysis was performed to find structures within the questionnaire. Regression analysis was performed regarding students’ answers to whether StudentPEP was worthwhile. Free-text answers were analyzed qualitatively. Results: Student and teacher responses were mixed within six subscales, with highest agreement on ‘Teachers oral and written feedback’ and ‘Attitude to patient evaluation’. Fifty-four per cent of the students agreed that the triangulation gave concrete feedback on their weaknesses, and 59% valued the teachers’ feedback provided. Two statements regarding the teachers attitudes towards StudentPEP were significantly associated with the students perception of worthwhileness. Qualitative analysis showed that patient evaluations were encouraging or distrusted. Some students thought that StudentPEP ensured observation and feedback. Conclusion: The patient evaluations increased the students’ awareness of the patient perspective. A majority of the students considered the triangulated written feedback beneficial, although time-consuming. The teachers attitudes strongly influenced how the students perceived the usefulness of StudentPEP.

Examining participant perceptions of an interprofessional simulation-based trauma team training for medical and nursing students

ABSTRACT High quality care relies on interprofessional teamwork. We developed a short simulation-based course for final year medical, nursing and nursing anaesthesia students, using scenarios from emergency medicine. The aim of this paper is to describe the adaptation of an interprofessional simulation course in an undergraduate setting and to report participants’ experiences with the course and students’ learning outcomes. We evaluated the course collecting responses from students through questionnaires with both closed-ended and open-ended questions, supplemented by the facilitators’ assessment of students’ performance. Our data is based on responses from 310 students and 16 facilitators who contributed through three evaluation phases. In the analysis, we found that students reported emotional activation and learning outcomes within the domains self-insight and stress management, understanding of the leadership role, insight into teamwork, and skills in team communication. In subsequent questionnaire studies students reported having gained insights about communication, teamwork and leadership, and they believed they would be better leaders of teams and/or team members after having completed the course. Facilitators’ observations suggested a progress in students’ non-technical skills during the course. The facilitators observed that nursing anaesthesia students seemed to be more comfortable in finding their role in the team than the two other groups. In conclusion, we found that an interprofessional simulation-based emergency team training course with a focus on leadership, communication and teamwork, was feasible to run on a regular basis for large groups of students. The course improved the students’ team skills and received a favourable evaluation from both students and faculty.