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Supporting and engaging students
Workshop
Workshop
10:30 am
26 February 2024
M207
Session Program
NAMRATA CHHABRA1
Elize Archer2, Sarah Chhabra3, Sahiba Kukreja4 and Chhavi Bhardwaj5
1 American University of Antigua College of Medicine
2 Stellenbosch University
3 University of Virginia, Charlottesville
4 Sri Guru Ram Das Institute of Medical sciences
5 Embark Behavioral Health, San Diego
Elize Archer2, Sarah Chhabra3, Sahiba Kukreja4 and Chhavi Bhardwaj5
1 American University of Antigua College of Medicine
2 Stellenbosch University
3 University of Virginia, Charlottesville
4 Sri Guru Ram Das Institute of Medical sciences
5 Embark Behavioral Health, San Diego
1. Background:
Empathy, conceptualized as the multidimensional process of recognizing, understanding, and responding to the emotions of others, is pivotal for medical practitioners. As medical education undergoes transformative changes in the digital era, there is a burgeoning need to understand the neurocognitive underpinnings of empathy, identify effective teaching methods that inculcate it, and design precise assessment tools to gauge its evolution in medical students.
2. Importance for Research and Practice:
Neuroscientific studies have identified specific brain regions and networks involved in empathy. Understanding the neural pathways can inform evidence-based strategies to nurture it. In clinical practice, a higher degree of empathy correlates with improved diagnostic accuracy, enhanced patient adherence to treatment, and decreased malpractice incidents. Additionally, research indicates that physicians with heightened empathy experience lower rates of burnout, underscoring its importance for practitioner well-being. Therefore, the question isn't merely whether to incorporate empathy in medical curricula but how to do it optimally.
3. Workshop Format, Including Participant Engagement Methods: The workshop will integrate a multifaceted approach:
- Interactive Lecture: Elucidating the neural mechanisms underlying empathic responses, offering insights into their biological significance.
- Pedagogical Strategy Demonstrations: Featuring evidence-based instructional methodologies, from case-based learning to immersive patient simulations, that foster empathy.
- Hands-On Innovative Assessment Techniques: Exploring modern tools and metrics, such as objective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs) with empathy-specific rubrics and virtual reality-based assessments.
- Group Discussions and Activities: Facilitating active participant involvement in critiquing teaching and assessment modalities.
- Collaborative Conclusion: Participants will collaborate on creating a group document, highlighting best practices, research gaps, and areas for further research.
4. Who Should Participate?
- Medical educators involved in curriculum design and assessment, researchers in medical education, psychometricians, clinical educators, and educational policymakers.
5. Level of Workshop:
- Intermediate. Participants are expected to have prior knowledge of medical educational methodologies and a foundational understanding of assessment strategies.
6. Take-Home Messages/Workshop Outcomes/Implications for Further Research or Practice:
- Empathy has concrete neurobiological underpinnings that can guide its cultivation in medical education.
- Pedagogical innovations, grounded in empirical evidence, can enhance empathic capabilities.
- Modern assessment techniques offer more nuanced insights into empathy development, providing feedback loops for curriculum design.
- Interdisciplinary collaboration between neuroscience, education, and clinical practice is paramount for advancing empathy in medical education.
7. Maximum Number of Participants:
- 40-50 participants to ensure in-depth discussions, personalized feedback, and a conducive environment for collaborative conclusions.
References (maximum three)
- Decety, J., & Jackson, P. L. (2004). The functional architecture of human empathy. Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience Reviews, 3(2), 71-100.
- Riess, H., Kelley, J. M., Bailey, R. W., Dunn, E. J., & Phillips, M. (2012). Empathy training for resident physicians: A randomized controlled trial of a neuroscience-informed curriculum. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 27(10), 1280-1286.
- Hemmerdinger, J. M., Stoddart, S. D., & Lilford, R. J. (2007). A systematic review of tests of empathy in medicine. BMC Medical Education, 7(1), 24.
11:30 am
Dominic Johnson1
Neil Henney2 and Deborah Collier2
1 Liverpool University
2 University of Liverpool
Neil Henney2 and Deborah Collier2
1 Liverpool University
2 University of Liverpool
Background
Considering assessment mitigation or professionalism concern issues, educators are challenged to strike a balance between supporting their students on the journey to become the professionals they want to be and only graduating students who demonstrate they are safe to practise (General Medical Council, 2016). Institutions have a clear duty to welcome and support students with mental health issues (General Medical Council, 2019). If mental health considerations form part of the mitigation for assessment and professionalism concerns, this begs the question as to how educators are to consider mental health as mitigation and how to assess the importance and impact of the relationship between the mental health issue and the assessment concern.
One of the workshop facilitators (DJ) is a forensic psychiatrist and brings a clinical perspective as to when mental health issues may be used in mitigation. They have also acted as an expert witness for medical schools when questions about mental health issues and mitigation have been raised. The other facilitators (BC and NH), in their roles as Director of Assessment and Degree Programme Director respectively, are directly involved in assessment and have significant experience of dealing with the challenges of mental health mitigations in undergraduate assessment.
Using iterative exploration through case studies, our own experiences and relevant literature we will bring our complementary perspectives to help the audience explore the inherent challenges of striking the balance between supporting students with mental health difficulties and when and how to use mitigation of this in assessment.
Why is the topic important for research and / or practice?
Medical educators are having to consider mental health issues as part of mitigation more frequently than ever before. Individuals and institutions are mindful of the importance of compliance with equality legislation, but also the duty to only graduate students who are safe to practise. This session will help educators explore these tensions and started a debate about how to mitigate mental health issues in these circumstances.
Workshop format
- Short didactic talks setting the scene regarding current challenges in supporting students with mental health issues
- Interactive case discussion exploring when mental health should mitigate and when it should not.
- Co-creation with the audience regarding strategies and ideas in striking the right balance in this difficult area.
Who should participate?
Medical educators who are considering mental health as mitigation with regard to assessment or professionalism concerns
Level of workshop
Intermediate / advanced
Take-home messages / workshop outcomes / implications for further research or practice
- Consider the nuance in how mental health may affect assessment of academic/clinical knowledge and skills and professionalism
- Provide context about the reality of dealing with the above
- Highlight tensions between supporting students with their mental health and thedemands of providing assessment in a professionally accredited programme and support participants to develop ideas and strategies in finding that balance
Maximum number of participants
40
References (maximum three)
General Medical Council (2016) Professional behaviour and fitness to practise Available at: Professional behaviour and fitness to practise - GMC (gmc-uk.org) (Accessed: 28 July 2023).
General Medical Council (2019) Welcomed and valued Available at: Welcomed and valued - GMC (gmc-uk.org)) (Accessed: 28 July 2023).