Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning in Developing Professionalism in Medical Students

 

Lead Institution: University of Liverpool, Director: Dr Helen O Sullivan
Contact: Dr Helen O Sullivan, Email: h.m.osullivan@liverpool.ac.uk

The public look to the medical profession for help and guidance at many times in their lives. Often this is when people are feeling apprehensive, in pain or in distress.

The public expect to be cared for by a competent, ethical and wise doctor who they can trust absolutely. This CETL will look at how this professionalism develops in medical students, how it can be nurtured and how it can be learned and assessed. For these students, their development into professional practitioners involves many challenging and stressful encounters with doctors, nurses, patients and carers, not to mention teachers and examiners. These experiences form the learning resources through which they can develop their professionalism.

The CETL will:

  • develop robust mechanisms to assess attitudes and behaviour of medical students
  • develop a careers advice service for medical students
  • underpin the changes by developing criteria to determine excellence in clinical teachers which we aim to have accepted nationally.

The CETL has already piloted a reflective instrument through which students may learn, plan and develop themselves into professional practitioners. Sharing these experiences, and their thoughts on them, may also help students to defuse stress and anxiety. The CETL will be working to develop and assess professional attitudes and behaviour in students as they progress through medical school. This will be developed through to their final year where their attainment of professional attributes is assessed in the work place. The intention is that this will lead to a seamless progression from student to professional medical practitioner with the knowledge, skills and attitudes to continue their development to be a trusted, caring and wise doctor. Through this CETL, we will further develop in our students the professional attitudes which are increasingly important in the NHS in the 21st century, better preparing them for their future careers.

enquiries@medev.ac.uk

+44 191 222 5888

The Higher Education Academy Subject Centre for Medicine, Dentistry and Veterinary Medicine

School of Medical Sciences Education Development, Faculty of Medical Sciences,
Newcastle University, NE2 4HH