Guest Editorial: Introducing a new section

We are delighted to introduce a new section to the Journal. Over the years the journal’s scope has ‘flexed’ in response to shifts in the field of healthcare education. This broadening is perhaps most clearly seen in the changing title of the Journal from the original Postgraduate Education for General Practice to Education for Primary Care, as Sackin notes [1]. In terms of content, these changes have ensured inclusivity and the continuing relevance of contributions in a changing educational landscape, and have broadened to include studies from the undergraduate setting, wider primary care education, international perspectives, and innovations in educational practice. Our new section will further extend this and include a dedicated forum for students, trainees and early career health professionals to share their research and learning in medical education.

In recent years opportunities to develop an interest in education are occurring earlier, offering students and trainees scope to explore this interest through formal learning such as intercalated degrees, special study units/components or educationally-focused training posts, as well as ad hoc involvement in teaching and research. Trainees can now enter their postgraduate training or post-qualification continuing development with education as a well-defined interest and seek roles to further embed their interest into a future career strand. For some time now the Journal has been informally reflecting this evolution through publishing the project work of educational fellows and the like, including medical students. Indeed, a paper by Newton (2012), then a medical student, underlines this evolution and shares possible ways to gain experience in teaching and research. He continues: ‘there are also many opportunities to share experiences and present lessons learnt from projects that have been undertaken. Encouraging juniors … provides an opportunity for them to get their work recognised’ [2], p. 218. Indeed it cannot have escaped the attention of readers who attend national and international medical education conferences that student and trainee-led educational research is thriving. A perusal of the abstract books for last year’s ASME and AMEE conferences sees a diverse range of research topics, explored using a range of research approaches. Yet few studies of this type successfully make the move from poster to print. This would seem to be, in part, due to the lack of a dedicated print forum for such projects.

The aim of this ‘short reports section’ is to respond to evolution in training and to recognise the growing presence of medical education and medical education research in the formal curriculum. It will provide a further ‘academic space’ [3] for students, trainees and early career researchers to gain recognition for their ‘real world education research’ [4], p. 305. We aim to facilitate an interchange of scholarly ideas and practical outcomes. Submissions should briefly describe the project, set within primary healthcare education, and focus on the learning gained. Fuller guidance is available on the ‘instructions for authors’ page. We are also seeking to build links with organisations and networks which support trainees and early career researchers in primary care education to encourage submissions for publication. We welcome conversations with students, supervisors or academic leads on how to make this happen, and will provide support and guidance on writing for publication.

Samantha Scallan
[email protected]
Kay Mohanna
[email protected]