Compassionate postgraduate training: caring for and about our trainees – getting the basics right

Workshop facilitated by: Simon Gregory1, Rille Pihlak2 , Alvaro Cerame3, Shruti Sharma3
1 HEALTH EDUCATION ENGLAND, Cambridge, UK

2 The Royal Marsden Hospital, London, UK

3 European Junior Doctors Committee, London, UK

(Joint workshop by Postgraduate Committee and EJD as priority area for both)

Presented at: AMEE Lyon 2022 Conference

Background
The student or employee status of residents/ doctors in training varies between nations. There are numerous examples of these doctors sacrificing normal work-life balance and normal sustaining activities There are far too many, reports of stress, burnout, mental health problems and deaths by suicide. Stress and burnout significantly impede learning, affecting teaching delivery, competency acquisition, assessment and academic progression. It also reduces quality of care. To achieve excellence in postgraduate education it is necessary to get the basics right, applying our knowledge of Maslow’s hierarchy, and caring for our trainees, our adult learners. The pandemic has exacerbated these but also shown how support measures can be introduced to support continued curriculum progression.
At previous AMEE conferences trainees have expressed displeasure with solutions such as resilience training and mindfulness without getting the basics right. This session will explore the evidence of ongoing maltreatment and the evidence base for the impact and solutions including sharing best practice.
Who Should Participate
Residents/ doctors in training, educators, programme leaders and managers who will be able to share their experience, share best practice and contribute to the creation of solutions.
Structure Of Workshop
There will be stimulus materials from members of the Postgraduate and the EJDC.
Content will include sections of the workshop for attendees to exploring:
• Reality of a working and learning as a junior doctor
• EJD will present an international perspective ensuring examples from global north and south and from different education systems)
• Solutions to reset and reform Postgraduate education and training - some examples will be shared but it is intended that participants contribute their own experience, learning and solutions
• Making postgraduate training more compassionate and supporting trainees to excel.
Intended Outcomes
This is an opportunity explore and understand the issues, to share best practice and therefore to learn from others. It is intended that a best-practice report will be produced to inform development of an AMEE Guide.
Compassionate programmes and employment
Understanding of the evidence for creating excellent learning cultures
How much we can all learn from each other globally.