Small group teaching

Physicians Associates at BSMS

Nicola Dearnley Careers and medical profession, General, News, Physician Associates (PAs), Small group teaching

  Dr Nikki Dearnley, Clinical Education Fellow, BSMS

In September 2016 BSMS opened its doors to its first intake of Physicians Associate students. As part of my role as a Clinical Education Fellow I am heavily involved in teaching on this course. When I explain to friends and colleagues what my job involves I often get a lot of questions about the role of a Physician Associate, so I am going to use this blog post as an opportunity both to answer some commonly asked questions and perhaps sell to you the benefits of teaching on this course!

What is a Physicians Associate?

Physician Associates are collaborative healthcare professionals with a generalist medical education. They work alongside doctors to provide medical care as a part of the multidisciplinary team. Physician Associates are dependent practitioners working with a dedicated supervisor, but are able to work independently with appropriate support. Physician Associates work within a defined scope of practice and limits of competence. They can:

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Reflections on the flipped classroom

Andy Brereton Education theory, concepts, models, Flipped classroom model, Medicine, Small group teaching

Dr Andy Brereton, Clinical Teaching Fellow

Andy teaching on the TIME course for new BSMS educators

I joined the Department of Medical Education at BSMS, in October 2016, as a Teaching Fellow. One of my motivations for applying for the job was the belief that this faculty could support me in my development as an educator. By refining my teaching skills, understanding and embedding technology (TEL), I would in turn, be providing the best recipe for learning.

Key to developing as a teacher I challenged myself to ask;

  • What motivates me to teach in a certain way?
  • Do I repeatedly use the same teaching method to deliver the key points of a session?

Today I facilitated a seminar (Week 5) on sepsis for my SSC in Module 103 #shocked using the flipped classroom approach.

This was the first time I had provided students with reading material (http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa010307) and asked them to read it pre-session. This morning’s session was then spent collectively exploring the pathophysiology of sepsis and the evidence behind current clinical guidelines by critiquing appraising this sentinel paper (pre session reading material).

From my observation, this was the most interactive seminar so far and I’m pleased I tried something new! Better still, the students appeared to thoroughly enjoy the session.

Note to self: Be open to change…