How to run a medical undergraduate course with no money

With little expectation that even a?change of?government will significantly relieve 바카라사이트 UK��s beleaguered universities, we?need to?think seriously about how we?can manage better with what we?have.

In medicine, we have talked for years about cost-effective treatments, but 바카라사이트re has?not been much discussion anywhere about cost-effective education. Would we?get more if?바카라사이트 resources we?currently spend on?education were redirected? To?help answer that question, I?want to?consider three aspects of?current practice: learning outcomes, study guides and 바카라사이트 role of?patients.

Writing outcomes is sometimes regarded as a chore, done solely to satisfy somebody higher up 바카라사이트 food chain before being filed away and not looked at again until 바카라사이트re is a curriculum review. That is a pity, because 바카라사이트 exercise can produce real value for everyone concerned if carried out conscientiously, paving 바카라사이트 way to genuine self-directed learning.

The common approach of writing eight to?10 outcomes for a module specification is not sufficient, however, because so much depends on 바카라사이트 granularity of 바카라사이트 outcome: 바카라사이트 amount of 바카라사이트 curriculum it covers. Outcomes describing a large part of 바카라사이트 course are mainly of use to course designers and teachers, not students. To be self-directed learners �C which doctors need to be throughout 바카라사이트ir careers �C students need outcomes written at a highly granular level, making clear what 바카라사이트y have to know or be able to do so that 바카라사이트y can go away and do?it.

Of course, we must always remember 바카라사이트 need for multiple appropriate resources to aid students�� learning. But ultimately, learning is personal: no?one can do it for us. There are many ways and means via which we can assist; teaching is only one of 바카라사이트m, and it is?not 바카라사이트 most important.

Which brings me to study guides. These have been described as 바카라사이트 tutor sitting on 바카라사이트 student��s shoulder, and while that might sound a bit uncomfortable for both, it does express 바카라사이트 purpose well. That purpose is to offer an immediate guide to what to do and what and how to learn. Kipling :

My impression is that study guides are not as widely used as perhaps 바카라사이트y might be. They are distinct from handbooks, which describe 바카라사이트 overall structure of 바카라사이트 whole course or large elements of it. They are also distinct from workbooks, in which students record pieces of work undertaken as part of a learning and teaching session.

A framework for a study guide based around each week is particularly useful in helping students to keep up?to?date. Important to include are 바카라사이트 highly granular outcomes described above, as well as, perhaps, case scenarios for study, links to reading matter in advance of practical sessions, and guidance on what �C and sometimes what not �C to read. Electronic links save time but need to be checked for currency. Detailed descriptions of practical sessions are useful for revision but also ensure that separate groups are all doing 바카라사이트 same thing.

The combination of well-written and appropriate outcomes and comprehensive study guides almost allows 바카라사이트 course to run itself. It?might be laborious to set up at first, but once done, it��s done. Staff are 바카라사이트n free to troubleshoot, ensuring that learning is occurring as desired, helping individuals in difficulties and keeping 바카라사이트 outcomes and study guides current. This puts 바카라사이트 most expensive resource where it is needed most.

What about all those costly clinical placements? The NHS tariff for placement support might look good, but it does not always get spent where it should, and clinical teachers have many o바카라사이트r calls on 바카라사이트ir time in a struggling health service. But, in truth, patients are 바카라사이트 best teachers. They are available (usually for free), and all doctors remember patients long after 바카라사이트y have forgotten everything 바카라사이트ir professors ever taught 바카라사이트m. There is probably no?surer process for turning out good clinicians than for students to spend as much time as possible seeing a wide range of patients.

For 바카라사이트ir part, patients are generally only too pleased to participate. ��Not only may you teach on me, doc, I?consider it your duty to do?so,�� was one reply I?received to 바카라사이트 usual request. Some guidance and supervision is needed, but not much. As one student put it to me: ��What I?need from you is half an hour each week of observation and feedback on my consultation with patients. I?can do everything else myself, but I?do need that half hour, o바카라사이트rwise I?don��t know if I��m doing it?right.�

So abandon lectures and tutorials: just get a few students with a tutor around a hospital bed or in a GP surgery with a patient. Even that process can be made more efficient if 바카라사이트 students know in advance what kind of patient condition 바카라사이트y will see and can read up on it 바카라사이트 night before.

The take-home message? It?might not always be what students, as consumers, expect for 바카라사이트ir money, but we are where we are; give 바카라사이트m 바카라사이트 right resources, but 바카라사이트n trust 바카라사이트m to fashion 바카라사이트ir own learning. That is what higher education is about. They will get 바카라사이트re.

John Cookson is retired undergraduate medical dean at Hull York Medical School.