Clinical Education PGDip – Blow the myth: those who can, teach

Busy hospital-based deliverers of patient care know that in NHS clinical practice there aren’t enough hours in the day to complete patient-focussed tasks, let alone consider teaching or training.

Wouldn’t it be great if you could achieve the PGDip qualifications that you need with 2 days annual leave rather than it taking two years.

Historically, the allocation of training assignments for junior colleagues has flowed downhill to the newest or least senior members of the team, and increasingly, posts are being created with ring-fenced provision for a dedicated teaching commitment. Previously, there wasn’t the time or the expectation of need, when teaching junior colleagues, but times are changing. There is now the recognition of the need for increased commitment to improve teaching quality, but courses teaching clinicians how to teach also need to be geared to the fast-paced world of NHS healthcare.

PGDip Training for Healthcare Professionals in Teaching Roles

The General Medical Council recognises the need to combine the roles of clinician and trainer – and the vital contribution of high-quality teaching to sustain patient safety and promote good clinical outcomes. Expanding the roles for those not medically qualified, into the training of doctors and other members of the clinical team, while controversial, is also being taken into account in healthcare position statements as the General Medical Council takes on the role of regulator¹ for Physician Assistants and Anaesthesia Associates. How do we, whose learning has been all about healthcare, also learn to become successful teachers ? We need to develop the necessary skills and competencies.

Run-through or higher training in popular specialties in medicine increasingly includes a teaching qualification as part of the eligibility criteria for application². Busy clinicians are themselves actively seeking training to deliver higher quality teaching, and welcome the opportunity to learn how to structure and deliver an improved service to colleagues, however they also struggle to commit for up to a year of study, as stipulated in some of the courses. Those aspiring to a career in academic medicine may feel an obligation to pursue these longer programmes and the question is: do longer courses create better teachers.

PGDip in Clinical Education at Healthcare Skills Training International

Healthcare Skills Training International delivers professional developmental courses for doctors, dentists, nurses, physician assistants, anaesthesia associates and allied healthcare professionals at all career stages. Our postgraduate level Diploma in Clinical Education course is run by faculty with decades of clinical and educational experience across a range of specialisms, in and out of academia. We know what good training looks like and how to deliver it. Healthcare Skills run the programmes we wish had been available to us earlier in our careers. Our postgraduate level diploma has a high level of entry to the course and builds on the prior learning and experience of those already working or training in a healthcare setting. As a result we need only two days of ‘clinical down-time’ to deliver our programme. We not only teach the theory and practical skills needed to teach effectively but ensure that those achieving our qualification can deliver effective teaching!

Our blended learning course is designed to deliver ‘what it says on the tin’ – improve the teaching skills and time-efficiency of clinical trainers while ensuring sufficient theoretical knowledge, to achieve a PGDip, within an optimally managed timeframe that is self-paced, including two days of virtual classroom.

Some clinicians come onto our courses already holding formal teaching qualifications. They report that despite previously becoming certificated, they still have a teaching skills gap. We routinely ask those attending our course what they hope to gain from our teaching and the answer is always the skills of practical teaching.

It is important for those seeking to raise their teaching credibility to ensure that the clinical education course they opt for delivers the formal qualification they need, as well as the skills that are necessary. This helps prepare for the expanding teaching remit likely to accompany promoted posts in the healthcare sector.

References

1. https://www.gmc-uk.org/education/standards-guidance-and-curricula/position-statements/our-vision-for-the-future-of-medical-education-and-training
2. https://www.healthcareers.nhs.uk/explore-roles/health-informatics/roles-health-informatics/education-and-training-roles/entry-requirements-education-and-training