Author: Jill Thistlethwaite
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The ‘new’ apprentices
Apprenticeships in health care are trending. The NHS (National Health Service) in England is considering an apprenticeship model for training aspiring doctors and nurses to help alleviate workforce issues.[1] The BBC is calling this a radical plan though it has been the training approach for some health professionals in the past. Indeed, clinical education of doctors even now…
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Ritual
Whatever one may think about the purpose and utility of royalty in the 21st century, the coronation of Charles III was a magnificent but eye-wateringly expensive spectacle. It may be the last of its kind in the UK, and I do feel that Australia will become a republic before too long. This was a costume drama out-of-step…
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Whither professionalism?
Towards the end of the last century, health professional educators began to take a greater interest in the topic of professionalism, and related concepts such as professional development and professional behaviour. Courses such as ‘personal and professional development’ (PPD), for example, were introduced into medical curricula and the number of published articles on the subject increased…
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How do you solve a problem like feedback?
Feedback – health professional educators and learners discuss feedback regularly. The literature on the subject is large. Yet we still don’t seem to be able to get it right or get the outcomes we want from the feedback processes we use. I attended an online presentation this week on feedback, which also asked the question: why after…
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The Patriarchs by Angela Saini
When I was applying to become a GP partner in the late 1980s, general practice was a popular career choice for doctors in the UK. Competition was fierce. Each week I typed five or more letters to practices advertising in the British Medical Journal for new partners. After a few months and some interviews, it became apparent that, while…
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Shared decision making: it takes two
Of the many articles I read each year, only a few have an immediate and lasting impact on the way I practise. Two papers had a great effect on me as a GP and educator in 1999. The topic of both was shared decision making. I am from a generation of medical students who did not…
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RCTs in education: yes, no or maybe?
Health professional practice is both a science and an art. Students learn about the scientific method and how medical knowledge is advanced through experiment, research and evaluation. Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) are a gold standard approach to gathering evidence as to whether treatments work and for whom. Treatments here may mean drugs (or medicines), other forms of disease…
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Bad news and emotions: caring for others and self
Sometimes it seems that there is only bad news and on days like those it is harder to remember the heart-warming events of my health professional life. Distressing episodes are more likely to pop into my mind and are more poignant. My earliest memory of having to break bad news as a doctor was during my…
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Constructed Truths – true or fake?
As a GP, a generalist health professional, I know a little about a lot. At my age, I have perhaps forgotten more knowledge than I have retained, or at least it is not as easily retrievable. In addition, some of the knowledge I have had has been superseded by new knowledge, new facts, and newer ways of…
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Good news, bad news: who decides?
A woman sits down and says: ‘I’m pregnant’. Pause. Context is so important here. How I respond is likely to affect our person-professional relationship, perhaps for some time. Is this good news or bad news or perhaps she hasn’t decided yet? One definition of bad news in the health care setting is ‘any news that drastically and negatively alters…
Health professional education and practice 