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Abstract
Purpose: The ability of healthcare systems to deliver world-class compassionate care depends on the quality of training and education of staff. Matching student-centered learning with patient-centered care is the focus for much curricula reform. This study explores the effect a novel longitudinal curriculum had on medical students’ attitudes and experiences to better identify central tenets needed in our education system.
Methods: Single-center, qualitative focus-group study conducted in 2017 of medical students in a longitudinally integrated clinical apprenticeship at a large UK medical school. Students were randomly assigned to focus groups to describe their educational journey and explore how longitudinal learning prepared them for a medical career, valuing their unique position as student participants in the healthcare system.
Results: Four themes emerged from students’ experiences: navigating the patient journey, their professional development, their learning journey, and the healthcare system.
Conclusions: Listening to student voices lends insights for educators refining educational models to produce doctors of tomorrow. This project identified the educational value of students having authentic roles in helping patients navigate the healthcare system and the benefits of consistent mentorship and greater autonomy. The gulf between gaining skills as a future doctor and gaining skills to pass summative exams calls into question assessment methods.
Ethical approval
Ethical approval was granted for studies involving human subjects by the Imperial College London Medical Education Ethics Committee.
Acknowledgments
The authors wish to thank Dr. Jo Horsburgh, Imperial College London for her independent review of the manuscript and the data and to Dr. Horsburgh and her colleague Mrs. Kate Ippolito for independently facilitating the focus groups.
Disclosure statement
The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article.
Glossary
Apprenticeship: The system of educating a new generation of practitioners with on-the-job training to transform medical students into student doctors.
Additional information
Funding
Notes on contributors
Arabella L. Simpkin
Arabella L. Simpkin, MA, BMBCh, MRCPCH, MMSc, is a Co-Founder of the Integrated Clinical Apprenticeship at Imperial College, London. She is the Associate Director of the Center for Educational Innovation and Scholarship at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, and an Instructor in Medicine at Harvard Medical School.
Andrew McKeown
Andrew Mckeown, MBChB, MRCGP, is a GP and Senior Teaching Fellow in the Department of Primary Care at Imperial College, London. He is the Course Director of the Integrated Clinical Apprenticeship.
Ravi Parekh
Ravi Parekh, MBChB, DRCOG, is a GP Registrar and NIHR Academic Clinical Fellow in the Department of Primary Care and Public Health at Imperial College, London. He is developing an academic interest within undergraduate medical education and is an assistant teaching fellow on the Integrated Care Pilot.
Sonia Kumar
Sonia Kumar, MBBS, DFFP, DRCOG, FRCGP, MSc, is the Head of Undergraduate Primary Care Education at Imperial College, London. She has worked as a GP and medical educator in London for the past 14 years.
Gareth Tudor-Williams
Gareth Tudor-Williams, MBBS, MRCP, MRCPCH, is a Reader in Paediatric Infectious Diseases at Imperial College, London, and Consultant in Paediatric Infectious Diseases at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, St. Mary’s Hospital, London, UK. He is the Undergraduate Course Co-director for Paediatrics at Imperial College London and a Co-Founder of the Integrated Clinical Apprenticeship at Imperial College, London.