APPLICATION OF KOLB'S THEORY TO CLINICAL TEACHING

Application of Kolb's theory to clinical teaching at bedside

Application of Kolb's theory to clinical teaching at bedside

Introduction

The interest of my research is how medically qualified doctors learn to teach medicine. The teaching, training, supervision and education of postgraduate trainee doctors is primarily undertaken by medically qualified doctors. Currently much of the teaching takes place within hospitals in both clinical and classroom settings. Those responsible for the teaching come mainly from two groups of doctors. The first have completed their training and are independent medical practitioners. The second are still trainees but have responsibilities for teaching and supervising more junior trainees. Doctors also have wider responsibilities for teaching other healthcare professionals, patients and the public. I approach this from two trajectories. Firstly, I trace how my own interest in the theory and practice of education has evolved from being a medical practitioner to one with an interest in teaching other doctors. Secondly, I explore how national initiatives to improve the teaching skills of doctors have been implemented. (Armstrong, E. and Parsa-Parsi, R. 2005 Pp. 15)

Personal trajectory

I qualified in medicine in 1976 and completed my anaesthetic and intensive care training in 1986. During this time, I became interested in the teaching of other doctors and healthcare professionals. While I used a variety of different formats for teaching, I received no training in how to teach, either formally or informally. In 1994, I agreed to organise and deliver a formal classroom based programme of teaching, for anaesthetic trainees, on behalf of six hospitals within the West Midlands. I rapidly discovered that I was woefully unprepared for this task. Furthermore, I was unable to find other anaesthetists who had expertise in this area. I therefore enrolled on the Masters programme in medical education run by the University of Wales College of Medicine in Cardiff. The consequences of completing this degree in 2000 are interesting. While I still organise and oversee the training programme for the anaesthetic trainees, I have diversified my educational interests in a number of ways. At a local level, I organise and participate in the supervision of novice anaesthetists and education modules for experienced anaesthetic trainees. At regional, national, and international levels, I participate in courses teaching trainees and consultants how to improve their teaching and the educational environment for trainees in all specialties. My role has evolved into being responsible for the training and education of both undergraduate and postgraduate medical trainees within a large University Hospital. Like many things in life, this was not planned but serendipitous and was influenced by changes at a national level.

National trajectory

The teaching of postgraduate clinical medicine has traditionally taken place within an apprenticeship model: '…apprenticeship is the tested way' (Armstrong 2005, p.18). The workplace, for the apprenticeship, has been the hospital wards and clinics while the 'teachers' have been more senior members of the medical profession. While the workplace has not changed, there has been a move away from the apprenticeship model ...