Keywords: Simulation, General Practice, Undergraduate teaching, primary care
Background:
Lack of GP practices for student placements is becoming an increasing challenge in medical education due to widespread shortage of GP’s in Ireland and increasing student numbers. GP placements form a crucial part of student learning therefore innovative methods of exposing students to general practice must be implemented to ensure they achieve their learning outcomes. Simulated- based learning is an effective solution to this problem as it allows for larger number of students to gain exposure to general practice in one clinical setting.
Methods:
Twelve students were invited to attend a simulated-based learning programme based in a GP practice in Dublin. The five-day programme consisted of clinical skills workshops involving mannikins, history-taking/ communication scenarios and data recording/interpretation sessions using simulated online GP IT software. The effectiveness of the programme was assessed via feedback from student via an anonymous survey upon completion of the simulated-based learning programme.
Results:
Nine students completed the survey (75% response rate). They were asked to rate how useful they found each session on a likert scale of 1 to 7. 7 indicating extremely useful and 1 not useful. On average, the students rated the various sessions as 6.6 out of 7 in terms of usefulness. Students were also questioned on their overall experience of the programme; 77% strongly agreed it helped them achieve the modules learning outcomes and 88.8% strongly agreed it prepared them for their upcoming GP placement. On a scale of 1 to 7, (7 indicating strongly agree), the average score was 6 when questioned if the experience encouraged them to consider a career in general practice.
Conclusion(s):
An onsite simulated-based learning programme is an effective and efficient method of exposing students to general practice with the additional benefit of promoting GP as a future career for undergraduate medical students.
Points for discussion:
Use of simulated based learning as an adjunct to or replacement for clinical placement to alleviate burden of sourcing GP placements?
Is there a need for advancements in digital technology to enhance simulated experience, for example virtual reality (VR) experiences.
Is simulated based learning as effective as on-site clinical placement? Does it have a role in teaching empathy via VR experiences
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