Tag: education research

Beyond Case-Based Learning: Reflections on Generative AI and Cinematic Narratives in Medical Teaching

Posted on by andrew.bond

Contributing to our BMERG blog series on building community, our BMERG Journal Club lead Dr Claire Hudson reflects on the discussions at a recent journal club about AI-generated clinical narratives.

 

Artificial intelligence (AI)-generated image of Selena Gomez singing with Justin Bieber. Taken from Bland (2025) doi:10.2196/63865 

The BMERG journal club recently met to discuss the following paper:

Bland, Tyler. “Enhancing Medical Student Engagement Through Cinematic Clinical Narratives: Multimodal Generative AI-Based Mixed Methods Study.” JMIR medical education vol. 11 e63865. 6 Jan. 2025, doi:10.2196/63865

This paper sparked my attention; it’s not often you see mention of Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez in an academic research paper! I was interested to find out whether their cinematic clinical narrative was a valid educational approach, or whether it was all just a gimmick…. I was sceptical. 

Publication overview

This study, based in one US Medical School, explored a creative way to teach complex pharmacology to medical students using Generative AI (GenAI). Instead of a traditional case-based learning (CBL) scenario, the educators transformed a clinical case into what they called a cinematic clinical narrative, a multimedia story titled Shattered Slippers. It featured an AI-generated plot, narration, images and even a theme song, blending clinical content with an emotionally engaging storyline.

The approach was grounded in multiple educational theories, including Constructivist Learning Theory, Cinemeducation, Mayer’s Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning, and the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework. They hoped to improve student engagement and recall.

What did the researchers find out?

The majority of the students preferred this AI-enhanced case to traditional teaching methods. They scored it highly on a ‘Situational Interest Survey’ and performed well on related exam questions (although these weren’t compared with performance in other topics!). Students reported liking the narrative style and the pop culture references. The authors suggest that multimedia storytelling, supported by GenAI, could enhance engagement, comprehension and retention, and could even help mitigate early medical-school burnout driven by information overload.

Why this study resonated

This paper generated one of our liveliest journal discussions. It tapped into current debates about the role of AI, narratives and emotion in medical and health sciences education.

We recognised similarities to CBL materials already used in Bristol Medical School (BMS) teaching. The phrase cinematic clinical narrative suggests a Netflix-style experience, however, this was essentially still a patient case, albeit within a more elaborate fictional storyline. The story was presented using Powerpoint slides with AI-generated narration, included two AI-generated ‘cinematic-style’ images of ‘Selena’ and ‘Justin’, plus an AI-generated song. There were clinical questions posed to the students within the narrative, akin to the ‘pause points’ or facilitator questions used within CBL in BMS.

What did we think?

During our discussion, we used the phrase “style over substance”, as we didn’t think the images, song or AI-narration particularly enhanced the story. However, we also recognised that our average age was significantly above that of an undergraduate medical student, so perhaps we simply weren’t the target audience! We didn’t like the AI-generated voice-over, but given how quickly it was produced, we could see the advantage over recording narration ourselves. Within our own CBL sessions, we prefer students to read cases aloud, and believe it allows pause for questions, discussion and deeper engagement with the content.

The authenticity was a positive aspect of this cinematic clinical narrative. The case was based on lupus, a condition experienced by actor and singer Selena Gomez in real life, which helps humanise the topic and connect students emotionally with the material. We already value this approach; for example, our curriculum includes videos of real patient stories, which resonate strongly with students and enhance their empathy.

The methodology and reporting were also strong. For example, they included CHERRIES (Checklist for Reporting Results of Internet E-Surveys) to report reliability of the Situational Interest Survey; listed all AI tools used (ChatGPT-4, Leonardo.ai, Eleven Labs and Suno); and shared all prompts used and generated media. The authors report that AI generated the storyline and media quickly, while the original case took approximately one day to write. It is reassuring that AI did not generate the clinical content per se, suggesting existing case material could be ‘fleshed out’ using this approach.

What ideas did we have, and what can we take away?

The idea discussed mostly relate to medical CBL, but could be adapted to other contexts.

Use a range of media: We already embed patient videos, YouTube clips, and numerous clinical images within CBL resources; it is clear from this research and the wider literature that using a range of media in teaching helps keep students engaged.

Use storytelling: Adding stronger narrative arcs or character development could make CBL cases more distinctive and memorable, may help students connect emotionally with the material and visualise more diverse patient experiences.

AI-assisted voices: Using AI to generate patient voices in different accents or tones, helping students become familiar with diverse pronunciations and communication styles. Some parts of the case could be read by an AI-patient, perhaps communicating patient experience following treatment.

Students as producers: Students could create their own ‘cinematic clinical narratives’ which could be judged at an informal ‘Oscars’-style showcase. Expert review would ensure medical accuracy while giving students creative ownership.

Flipped-learning resources: Cinematic narratives could serve as pre-session materials, freeing live teaching time for deeper discussion.

Final Thoughts

This study encouraged us to think more creatively about multimedia teaching materials and prompted some vibrant discussion. Overall, we were supportive of our existing CBL approach, which places greater emphasis on group activities and student-led discussion than this ‘cinematic clinical narrative’ appeared to. However, we realise that delivering information to students using a variety of media is important for sustaining engagement and interest.

If you already use storytelling in your teaching, using GenAI or not, we’d love to hear from you!

Author Biography

Dr Claire Hudson is a Lecturer on the Teaching and Scholarship Pathway within the Bristol Medical School. Claire’s early research career was in biomedical sciences, with a recent transition to pedagogic research. She has a special interest in self-regulated learning and the use of reflective practice in developing academic and feedback literacy skills.

The Many Roles of the Clinical Teaching Fellow (CTF)

Posted on by andrew.bond

In this week’s blog, Dr Lizzie Tighe and Dr Tom Shackshaft describe the important and varied role of Clinical Teaching Fellows at the University of Bristol.

University of Bristol’s Academy sites

As the academic year continues, over 100 resident doctors are settling into their roles as CTFs across the University of Bristol’s 9 academy sites. As Academy Clinical Teaching Coordinators (ACTCs) we had the joy of running two induction days in August for this new cohort, and visited all the academies during the CTF’s first 6 weeks. Over the year, CTFs will realise that they undertake a plethora of roles beyond teaching. For the uninitiated, we have outlined a summary of them below.

Teacher

This won’t surprise anyone – it’s in the job name! That said, classroom-based tutorials normally comprise the minority of sessions that CTFs deliver. Instead, bedside teaching, simulation and clinical skills often make up the bulk of CTF time – with these better suiting the clinical aspect of their role.  Several clinical academies welcome students from other institutions (Kings College London, Oxford University, Three Counties Medical School or Plymouth) and CTFs are sometimes involved in educational activities for other healthcare students such as nursing, dentistry, paramedics and PAs. 

Facilitator 

You may have wondered why CBL (case-based learning) wasn’t mentioned in the section above, given its prominence in the Bristol MBChB course. That’s because it shouldn’t really have a ‘teacher’ in the traditional sense, but a facilitator whose role is to guide student groups to ask the right questions and collectively meet their learning outcomes. This can be a steep learning curve for CTFs without prior experience of CBL, and is one of the trickier aspects of the role to feel comfortable with. 

Examiner 

Some CTFs may act as formal OSCE examiners at the University of Bristol, and almost all assess practice OSCEs and offer feedback and advice to their students in preparation for these. They also frequently complete formative Work-Place-based-Assessments, contributing to ongoing assessment of students’ professional and practical capabilities in real-world situations. 

Pastoral Support 

CTFs are often the first point of contact for medical students on clinical placements and can be the most approachable sources of support. They frequently support students in difficulty, whether related to education, personal or family circumstances, illness, or financial difficulty. The bread and butter of an experienced CTF is lending a sympathetic ear and cup of tea, signposting, and helping to make a sensible plan, often involving suitable support from University and NHS services. 

Role Model 

Many students see CTFs as a near-peer who they want to emulate – not a position to be taken lightly – evidenced by how many Bristol graduates (including Lizzie) return to become CTFs. This role modelling is also seen when in annual outreach programmes to local schools and colleges. 

Administrator 

Emails, timetabling, emails, booking rooms, registers, more emails. For previously ward-based doctors, this can be daunting and new. Every academy’s set-up is different, but a lot of admin is done by CTFs. This is a marmite activity – some like the control and are wizards of excel, for others it is the worst part of the job! 

Social events organiser 

Leaving Bristol can be daunting for our students. To help students feel at home CTFs (and other academy staff they work with) have been known to organise activities including quizzes, pub trips, bowling, meals out, film screenings, breakfast clubs and more.

Innovator 

As the front-line educator for much of the MBChB course, CTFs are often the first to identify areas for improvement and innovation. They frequently tweak aspects of local practice and have even been known to completely redesign the structure and delivery of entire units. CTFs who stay in their post for more than 12 months are particularly suited to this, with some brilliant success stories. Some of the best innovations have involved collaboration between CTFs within and between the academy sites. 

Researcher 

Many CTFs undertake educational (or less frequently clinical) research during their post. Many go on to present at local, national or regional conferences, and some eventually publish their work. In years past, you could hardly move at ASME for Bristol CTF research projects!   

Academic 

The majority of CTFs undertake a postgraduate qualification in healthcare education – normally here at Bristol. This can help develop their understanding of their teaching and can help them generate ideas for innovation or research and earn valuable points in postgraduate training programme applications. 

Clinician

CTFs typically have 10-50% of their role ‘doctor-ing’, either rota-ed into a specific department, or on a more ad-hoc basis. This helps CTFs continue their development as clinicians, and often students encounter them there, building legitimacy of the clinical teaching fellow and making student experiences far less intimidating. It is also helpful to build positive relationships with the departments who are sometimes baffled by what to do with medical students. 

The growth in numbers of CTFs nationally shows how valuable they are to medical schools, students and the hospitals they learn in.  We won’t pretend to have covered every aspect of the job, but these roles look likely to grow further, and CTFs are here to stay! 

Author Biographies

Dr Elizabeth (Lizzie) Tighe MBChB BSc and Dr Thomas (Tom) Shackshaft MBBS BSc have worked as Clinical Teaching Fellows since 2022. Alongside GP training, they both currently work for the University of Bristol as ACTCs to support CTFs, encourage collaboration across the region and run the TICC conference (Teaching, Innovation and Collaboration for CTFs) (https://ticc.blogs.bristol.ac.uk/). They have been involved in a variety of medical education projects and are working towards their MScs in Health Professions Education.

International Assessment in Higher Education: Conference report

Posted on by andrew.bond

In this week’s blog, Sally Dowling reports on attendance at the International Assessment in Higher Education conference, held in Manchester in June. She also shares the call for contributions for next year’s conference.

Image by Oleg Ivanov for Unsplash.com

The Assessment in Higher Education (AHE) network is ‘an independent network focused on developing research-informed practice in assessment and feedback in higher education’ (About AHE). Through the AHE network and events, academics are brought together, representing a range of subject disciplines and professional fields. They have in common that they are ‘evaluating, researching and developing theory, research, policy and practice in assessment and feedback’. The focus isn’t medical education, but the issues discussed are of direct relevance to members of BMERG.

Each June, the University of Cumbria hosts the International AHE conference. The conference is held in Manchester and attracts academics from all over the world, interested in coming together to discuss aspects of assessment in higher education. This year the conference was held on the 19th– 20th June, with over 285 delegates attending from 20 countries. Highlights from the conference can be found here.

On the recommendation of Dave Gattrell from BILT, three of us attended this year, presenting four papers in total. The presenters (Sally Dowling, Nicola Rooney and student partner, Tirion Cobby) are from the Medical and Vet Schools but represent a multi-disciplinary team with other members from the Vet School (Julie Dickson), Library Services (Bogdan Florea), School of Modern Languages (Christophe Fricker) and the School of Psychological Science (Craig Gunn). Together we have worked, from 2023-2025, on a BILT-funded project ‘Designing for all – research, report and academic guidance’. Our papers presented the findings from the four sub-projects we had worked on:

1) a scoping review of inclusive assessment in the UK

2) focus groups with students and staff exploring perceived inclusivity of assignments at our university

3) a student survey investigating how students perceive different types of assessments in terms of authenticity, inclusivity, and ability to demonstrate performance

4) a mixed-method discourse analysis of student views on assessment.

Our papers were well-received, and we had some interesting discussions with those who attended our sessions. We are working on finalising and submitting our papers for publication now and giving a final report to BILT later this month.

There were two great keynote speakers, Professor Sam Elkington, Teesside University and Associate Professor Alex Buckley, Heriot-Watt University; more information on their presentations and the rest of the programme can be found here. Between us we went to a range of interesting presentations and workshops, including some specifically from those working in medical education. We’d really recommend the conference to all working in HE and I’d specifically recommend it to BMERG members. It’s good to hear what those in other disciplines are doing around assessment issues and to discuss experiences, innovations and developments in this area with a wide group of academics. The call for contributions is open now, with a deadline of 19 January 2026. The organisers say that ‘the conference is aimed at those working in all contexts where higher education is delivered who have an interest in the practice and research of assessment’. It will be in Manchester again, at the Manchester Marriott Hotel Piccadilly on the 18th and 19th June, 2026. The call for contributions, including information on the presentation formats, can be found here.

Author Biography

Dr Sally Dowling is a Senior Lecturer in Bristol Medical School. She teaches on the Health Professions Education programme, is Student Choice Year 1 Academic Lead for the MBChB programme and Co-Programme Director for the MSc Reproduction and Development. She has many years’ experience in teaching health professionals, of qualitative research, writing for publication and journal reviewing/editing. She has particular interests in teaching research methods and supporting others, including students, to publish.

Reflections from ASME 2025, AI, Assessment & Agency in Health Professions Education

Posted on by andrew.bond

In this weeks blog, Dr Dani O’Connor shares reflections from the ASME Annual Scholarship Meeting 2025, exploring key themes of Artificial Intelligence (AI), assessment, and agency in health professions education. It highlights insights from presenting on AI’s impact on critical thinking, engaging workshops, and the importance of learner empowerment, inclusion, and wellbeing in educational spaces.

“Reflect Reflection” by Pietro De Grandi/ CC0 1.0

I recently had the privilege of attending the ASME Annual Scholarship Meeting 2025 in the vibrant city of Edinburgh. Held at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC) from July 1st to 3rd, the conference brought together educators, researchers, and healthcare professionals from across the globe to explore the theme, “The A’s of ASME – AI, Assessment & Agency.”

One of the most rewarding aspects of the conference was the opportunity to present alongside my colleague, Zuzana Deans, on a topic that is both timely and complex, the use of AI in education and its impact on critical thinking. Our session explored how generative AI tools are reshaping the way students engage with academic tasks, and what this means for the development of independent, analytical thought. We discussed both the opportunities and the risks, how AI can support learning, but also how it might inadvertently deskill students if not integrated thoughtfully. The discussion that followed was rich and reflective, with attendees sharing their own experiences and concerns around AI in the classroom.

Among the many thought-provoking sessions, one that particularly stood out to me was the interactive workshop provocatively titled “The Death of the Essay.” This session invited us to critically examine the traditional essay as a dominant form of assessment in health professions education. Through group discussions and live polling, we explored whether the essay still serves its intended purpose in an age of multimodal learning, digital fluency, and diverse learner needs. The session didn’t just critique the essay, it opened up space for imagining alternative, more inclusive forms of assessment that better reflect the skills and creativity of today’s students.

Throughout the three days, the programme was rich with intra-conference sessions, oral presentations, and e-poster discussions, all of which highlighted innovative approaches to assessment and learner empowerment. I was particularly inspired by the emphasis on learner agency, how we can better support students from diverse backgrounds to take ownership of their educational journeys. This resonated deeply with BMERG’s mission to amplify underrepresented voices in academia and research.

One of the standout moments for me was the sound bath sessions, a unique wellness initiative woven into the conference schedule. These short, guided meditations provided a welcome pause amidst the intellectual intensity, reminding us of the importance of mental wellbeing in academic spaces.

Networking was another highlight. The Welcome Reception on the first evening offered a relaxed setting to connect with peers and mentors. I had the opportunity to engage in meaningful conversations about inclusive curriculum design, decolonising medical education, and the role of community in shaping equitable learning environments. ASME 2025 was a space where critical conversations about equity, representation, and systemic change were not only welcomed, but actively encouraged. I left Edinburgh with a renewed sense of purpose and a notebook full of ideas to bring back to my team and wider networks.

Author Biography

Dr Dani O’Connor is a Lecturer in Medical Education at the University of Bristol, where she teaches across a range of programmes within Health Professions Education and leads the online MSc. Her research explores gender bias and relational autonomy in clinical decision-making, as well as the impact of AI on critical thinking in education. She has published in the Medical Law Review and presents her work nationally and internationally.

Building Community: Spotlight on the Incubator for Clinical Education Research

Posted on by sarah.allsop

This weeks BMERG blog is a spotlight on the Incubator for Clinical Educator Research (ClinEdR). Hosted by the University of Newcastle, the Incubator is an NIHR initiative launched in 2020 to develop ClinEdR as an academic field.

Image (c) UX Indonesia on Unsplash

What is the Incubator?

The mission and aim of the ClinEdR Incubator is to support and promote careers in clinical education research through building a multi-professional community of practice. It extends across all health professions and aims to bring people together to develop their ideas, build collaborations and provide a network of developing experience in the field.

What is Clinical Education Research?

This is one of the most fundamental questions and tends to have a myriad of different definitions and terms including clinical, medical, and healthcare professionals education research to name just a few. Often the word ‘clinical’ can drive the idea that this sort of research must have a direct impact in clinical practice and thus can seem to exclude certain areas of research in education.

The team at the Incubator have tried to broaden this idea, embracing all sorts of different research that can and does have an impact on societal health needs by “enhancing the education, training and development of health and social care practitioners, and the organisations within which they work and learn“. They highlight a number of different areas in which individuals and teams may be undertaking clinical education research such as:

  • Pedagogical research
  • Planning and design of educational programmes
  • Regulation processes
  • Organisation context of learning, such as learning environments and workforce inclusivity
  • Learner experience and careers

They also consider that this whilst this type of research may have a direct clinical impact for patients it may achieve impact in other ways such as benefiting clinicians in their training, influencing health and education systems and through challenging and developing standards.

How can the Incubator help those who want to engage in Clinical Education Research?

The incubator is a fantastic place to start regardless of where you are in your ClinEdR journey. It offers a variety of resource and links via it’s website such as:

So why not take a look at their resources, find out who works in ClinEdR in your area and sign up to be part of the growing Incubator network!

You can learn more about the Incubator at clinicaleducationresearch.org/ on Twitter/X at @ClinEdResearch or email the team at clinical.education.incubator@newcastle.ac.uk

Publishing in Medical Education: Writing for Publication – Writing your article

Posted on by sarah.allsop

Building on our previous BMERG Publishing in Medical Education blogs, in this post Dr Sally Dowling talks about what to think about when you write your article.

Photo by Daniel Thomas on Unsplash

In the previous BMERG blog, Writing for publication: getting started, I wrote about getting started on your journal article, and all the important things there are to do before you even begin to write. These include being really clear about what you are writing, who you are writing for (your audience) and the specific requirements of your chosen journal. Some useful guidance on this topic is also available from the publishers Taylor and Francis here ‘How to write and structure a journal article’.

In this blog, I talk about taking the next steps, and moving on to writing your journal article.

Where to start?

Titles, abstracts and keywords are very important in making your article discoverable through database and other searches – and ultimately, in ensuring that your work reaches its intended audience. Writing the title and abstract for your article may be something you write/finalise near the end of the process or you may, like me, like to start with this.

Titles

Titles serve a number of purposes – they need to clearly and concisely articulate what the article is about in order to grab attention and lead to someone reading the whole article. A title which is funny or focused on a pun may be enjoyable to write, but may not do the job so well as one which is a clear description. Generally titles should be short – some journals specify word length, often 12 or 14 words. Some like to see the methodology in the title, others are not specific – check the author guidance and review recent publications to check what you need to do for the submission you are planning. Avoid unnecessary words and make sure that key information about why readers should be interested is included.

Abstracts

Abstracts are also very important. Sometimes, when searching databases, potential readers may search using the ‘title and abstract only’ function. Read the author guidelines for your chosen journal to check word allowance (most are quite strict about this) and whether or not you need to structure your abstract using headings. If you are not sure have a look at articles already published in the journal.

Keywords

Some journals will ask you to select keywords from drop-down lists, others will allow you to add your own – some will do both. Make sure that keywords for your article are repeated both in title and abstract (some maybe only once, some repeated throughout). Again, this will maximise discoverability. Some more useful information, from publisher PLOS, about writing titles and abstracts can be found here, ‘How to Write a Great Title’.

Writing the main body of your article – Top tips

Getting down to actually writing your article can be both exciting and daunting. These are some tips based on my experience:

  • Stay organised: If you will be doing this with others, be clear with each other about who is doing what – will one person write the first draft and then others edit? Or will you each write a section and then one person edit for consistency later?
  • Be clear about authorship: the journal will usually ask you to confirm each person’s contribution. Read more about the ethics of authorship from the Commission of Publication Ethics (COPE).
  • Plan carefully before you start writing: How many words are you allowed by your chosen journal? Does this include references? Plan your content to fit with these requirements and try and stick to the word count as much as you can whilst writing – it’s much harder to edit down when you are very many words over!
  • Consider your headings: Does your chosen journal want you to stick to pre-determined headings? Can you add your own sub-headings? Think about what is needed under each heading and plan what you will include.
  • Know your referencing style: What is the referencing style used by the journal? If you are unfamiliar with it make sure you follow it exactly. Using a referencing manager will help but you will still need to check carefully.
  • Consider your writing style: Write clearly and concisely, include explanations of terms if you think they are needed. Think about your audience – if they are international will they understand the context you are writing about? Is the journal readership a specialist or a generalist one? How does this affect what you say – and how you say it?
  • Keep a checklist of key information: Identify important details to include and make sure that you do! These can include ethical approval numbers, information on recruitment and participants, any limitations on what you did, and so on.
  • Show your decision making: Your reader needs to clearly understand the background and context to your work and your motivation for undertaking the study. They need to know about the methods you chose and why you chose them. Data collection should be clearly explained and results outlined (the format for these will depend on the methodology of your paper). A discussion should relate your findings to what was already known about the issue, highlighting and discussing what you found in relation to this

Thinking about structure

It might be helpful to think of the earlier parts of the paper, like the introduction and background, as an inverted triangle or funnel – starting out broad, setting the scene and context before narrowing down to your specific focus. The conclusion is the opposite:

Finishing your article

When you have finished your article and you (and co-authors are happy with it), there are still a number of cross-checks to move your manuscript towards submission:

  • Double check the journal’s requirements – do you need a separate title page?
  • Do you need to anonymise all references to authors in the main text (including to previous publications)?
  • Have you followed all style and formatting instructions (have they asked for a specific font, or do you need to add line numbers, for example)?

Finally, write a brief letter to the editor, explaining why your article is a good fit for the journal and why they might be interested in publishing it. Now you are ready to submit! More on this next time.

More about the blog author

Sally is a Lecturer at Bristol Medical School, working both for the Teaching and Learning for Health Professionals programme and the MSc Reproduction and Development (Co-Director). She also runs a series of writing for publication workshops for the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Bristol and helps to facilitate the BMERG ‘Shut Up and Write’ sessions. Sally has experience of publishing journal articles as sole author and with others, publishing with students and writing book chapters. She has co-edited one book and is currently co-authoring a second. She has acted as a peer-reviewer for many submitted papers and worked as an Editorial Team member for two journals.

Watch out for Sally’s next blog in the new year on how to navigate the process of submission, including responding to reviews.

Abstract Call: Postgraduate Researcher Exchange Sessions at ASME’s RME Conference 16 Nov 2023

Posted on by sarah.allsop

Thursday 16th November 2023, 9.00am-5pm UK time

IN PERSON EVENT
Friends House, London
Postgraduate Researcher Exchange Sessions: Call for abstracts
Deadline for submission Friday 29th September 2023 at 5pm

ASME’s Education Research Committee (ERC) are very keen to support and encourage our excellent early career HPE research community to share their ongoing work. With this in mind, we are inviting those who are undertaking postgraduate research studies, at any stage, (e.g. PhD, Professional Doctorate, MD, MRes) to submit an abstract to present their work in progress.  

The abstract that you submit should focus on the theme of the conference “Alignment matters: from conception to communication”, demonstrating how you have integrated and aligned, or plan to integrate and align your choices of theory, research philosophy, and if relevant to stage, methodology and methods (or proposed methodology and methods).

Your abstract should be no more than 300 words long and finish with a question or topic that you would like to discuss with the audience (who will consist of fellow HPE researchers with a range of experiences).

Once all abstracts have been received we will then shortlist 6 presenters for our Postgraduate Researcher Exchange Sessions, which will form part of RME (those not selected will be given the option to present a poster at RME). The emphasis of these sessions is on discussion and ideas exchange; therefore, you will have 7 minutes for your presentation and 13 minutes will be given over to discussion.

Please send your abstract(s) submission to ERC-Events@asme.org.uk by Friday 29th September 2023 at 5pm. You will receive notification of whether you have been selected for presentation or poster by Wednesday 11th October, 2023.

Submissions are final on receipt, no amendments will be permitted after submission.

For full event details visit: https://www.asme.org.uk/events/rme2023/ or email events@asme.org.uk 

An ABCDE to Getting Started with Medical Education Research

Posted on by sarah.allsop
Sarah Allsop

In this blog Sarah Allsop, a Senior Lecturer at Bristol Medical School, shares a short 5-point top tip guide to getting started in medical education research.

Photo by David Iskander on Unsplash

It was great today to be able to extend a warm welcome to the new intake of Clinical Teaching Fellows (CTFs) working across the NHS Trusts linked to the University of Bristol Medical School, and introduce them to the work of BMERG.

CTFs are not only fantastic teachers and innovators, but also undertake some amazing medical education research projects. Bristol’s recent posters and oral presentations at both AoME and ASME is testament to this, with AMEE still to come at the end of August.

For new CTFs, and in fact anyone starting out undertaking research projects in education, this may be a new task and one which can seem quite daunting. Developing skills in educational research is a journey.

Here is a short 5-point ABCDE guide of top tips for getting started in Education Research – a place to start when you are not sure where to start.

A is for Aim: What are you trying to achieve? What problem are you trying to solve? What is the VALUE of your project? All research projects should start with an aim. Having a clear aim will then help to guide your next steps, study design and methods.

B is for Blueprint: How are you going to blueprint / plan your study? What research paradigm will you use? How will you use educational THEORY to aid the design of your project? What methodology aligns with your research question(s)? What do you need to prepare for your ethical review? Planning your project carefully and considering the alignment of the different elements of your study will ultimately lead to a better quality research project.

C is for Collaborate: Can you work collaboratively to build a stronger, more powerful project? Are there already projects in motion that you can join or build on? How can you work and support each other better? What interdisciplinary angles might be possible? We are stronger together. Talk to your peers and seniors about research projects. You may have ideas of your own that you wish to progress and that is fine, but if these align with the ideas of others, or you can build on previous studies, or try innovations across multiple sites or cohorts, this will improve the POWER and transferability of your work.

D is for Disseminate: How would you like to present or publish your work? Do you want to attend an international medical education or discipline specific conference or publish in a peer-reviewed journal? Would you like to be able to showcase your work across the wider local medical school community? One of the key principle aims of all research is to further knowledge and this means that we need to share our findings. Think about your REACH and influence – where, when and how you might like to share your educational research project results.

E is for Endpoint: What is the potential IMPACT of your study? Who might benefit from learning about your results? What are your personal goals? It may sound counter-intuitive to think about the end-point at the start of your journey, but this will help you to plan and develop a timeline. You will always have finite time to work on a particular project and so understanding your goals and being mindful about what is possible will help you to create the deadlines you need to keep your project on track.

Over the coming months BMERG will be sharing more top tips on undertaking educational research, as well as offering events such as journal clubs, writing groups and more. Subscribe to the blog to get all the latest BMERG news direct to your inbox.

Read more about Bristol conference work this summer at AoME 2023 and ASME 2023

Hot Topics: Medical Education Research – Why, How, Why and What

Posted on by sarah.allsop

In the next of our hot topic blogs, Dr Fiona Holmes from our BMERG committee talks about what actually defines a ‘Hot topic’ in Medical Education, and the importance of thinking about why and how we find out about what’s new and upcoming in our discipline.

 

Photo by Guido Jansen on Unsplash

While I was thinking about what to discuss, I realised that what I think is a hot topic might be just lukewarm to other people. We are all driven by different interests, experiences, and priorities.

In the hope of finding relevant and interesting subjects I started by looking into why a topic is hot, how they are identified and why this is important (which links back to why a topic is hot). This led me to what main areas of medical education are currently widely considered to be hot, and we look forward to exploring some of these in more depth in future hot topic blogs.

Why are topics considered ‘hot’?

Hot topics are influenced by various social and cultural contexts and needs, and may be hot because they are:

  • Relevant
  • Controversial
  • Timely
  • Impactful
  • Novel

Within medical education, and by extension pedagogical research in this field, there are a wide range of factors that have been identified to contribute to hotness:

  • Advancements in knowledge and technology: It has been estimated that new medical information doubles every 73 days. What and how to teach and the evaluation of learning needs to keep pace with these developments. How to prepare students to deal with such rapid developments and to be life-long learners is also a priority. Advances in technology for teaching and learning as well as the practice of medicine are transforming healthcare and its education. Adapting education to these technological changes will ensure future healthcare professionals are prepared to utilise these tools effectively.

  • Patient-centred care: With ever-changing healthcare needs and demographics, education research is needed to address the teaching of emerging health concerns, population health management, and the needs of diverse patient populations. This is twinned with a need for more consideration of patients’ values, preferences, and needs when making healthcare decisions therefore effective education in communication skills, empathy, cultural competence, and shared decision-making.

  • Interprofessional collaboration: Effective co-training of different healthcare professionals to foster teamwork skills to prepare students for collaborative healthcare environments.

  • Accreditation, regulation, stakeholder input: Accreditation bodies and regulatory agencies may revise guidelines to promote quality, safety, and innovation in medical education, prompting educational institutions to adapt their curricula accordingly. Such changes can drive research in this area. Likewise, public expectations, patient advocacy, and input from stakeholders (e.g., healthcare providers, patients, policymakers) play a role in shaping medical education and its research. These can influence curriculum content, teaching methods, and the overall educational experience.

  • Global health and environmental challenges: Global health issues, such as pandemics, emerging infectious diseases, health disparities, as well as environmental contexts highlight the need for a globally competent healthcare workforce. Medical education is addressing these challenges by incorporating global health content, cross-cultural training, and exposure to international healthcare systems.

Then of course there is medical education research itself and the innovation and design that comes with sharing evidence-based practice. This contributes to the evolution of medical education by identifying effective teaching methods, assessment tools, and strategies for continued professional development and aiming to ensure that innovation is beneficial.

How do hot topics get identified and become ‘hot’?

You may initially think that hot topics are simply those that are most prevalent in the current medical education journals, and this may well be true. Most things move in cycles and there are often trends for the types of issues that we see and trends in the solutions implemented. But, when you think about it, how do we find out what is prevalent or ‘trending’ at any given time?

There are number of ways to identify recurring themes, emerging topics and changes in research focus and involve both quantitative and qualitative research methods, and there is some overlap in the methods used. Examples include:

  • Literature review:  The systematic search, selection, and evaluation of relevant studies.
  • Bibliometric analysis: Analysis of publication and citation patterns over time to provide insight into the volume of research, popular topics, influential authors, and collaborations within the field.
  • Content analysis: Systematically categorise and analyse the content of research articles, conference proceedings to identify patterns and trends in research articles, social media discussions and online forums.
  • Surveys/questionnaires: Analysis of perceptions and attitudes of educational practices and emerging trends.
  • Interviews/focus groups: In-depth exploration of topics and contextual information.

Let’s look at an example:

Ji et al (2018) used social network analysis to identify changing trends in medical education and interpreted their findings to suggest 5 eras of medical education:

Figure. Ji et al Eras of medical education research

They determined that “during the 53-year period studied, medical education research has been subdivided and has expanded, improved, and changed along with shifts in society’s needs.” By analysing the trends they determined that medical education is forming a sense of the ‘voluntary order’ within the field and establishing legitimacy and originality. (Ji et al (2018) Research topics and trends in medical education by social network analysis | BMC Medical Education | Full Text (biomedcentral.com)).

So, why do we need to know about hot topics?

Hot topic research is important to ensure that medical education remains dynamic, responsive, and aligned with the evolving demands of the healthcare field and the needs of the learner. It supports the continuous improvement of medical education, leading to better-prepared healthcare professionals and ultimately improved patient outcomes.

Identifying hot topics helps time-limited researchers and educators stay informed about the latest trends, innovations, and challenges in medical knowledge, education and assessment practices to enhance teaching and learning methods, and to focus efforts on areas that require attention. This can then inform curriculum development and promote evidence-based practices.

Sharing hot topic research also helps to foster collaboration and networking among those with shared interests, leading to the exchange of ideas and development of research networks. As this grows, this helps institutions and funders prioritise and allocate resources by identifying areas of high research interest and impact. This is particularly important in identifying areas of medical education that are under-researched or require further attention.

What is hot right now?

Here are 8 of the hottest topics currently shaping medical education research in 2023:

  • Technology in education: Virtual (VR) and augmented reality (AR). Digital tools to engage with, filter and disseminate information that are interactive, efficient, and individualised.

  • Experiential and simulation-based learning: Through VR and AR, standardised patients, manikins, clinical scenarios to allow students to practice complex procedures and decision-making in a safe and controlled environment, improving their skills, confidence and safety.

  • Interdisciplinary education and team-based learning: Students from various healthcare disciplines learn about, from and with each other collaboratively. Case-based discussions and interprofessional simulations and debriefing, allow students to develop the skills needed to function in teams. It improves patient outcomes and enhances healthcare delivery and professional satisfaction by encouraging mutual respect, understanding, and effective communication.

  • Diversity, equity, and inclusion: Recruitment and retention of students from diverse backgrounds so that the healthcare profession better represents the patient population. Educating students in culturally appropriate care practices and social determinants of health. Learning environments to promote respect for diverse perspectives and equality of opportunities.

  • Competency-based education: Teaching and assessing ability to perform specific tasks and skills rather than relying solely on traditional exams to ensure proficiency in essential competencies required for clinical practice.

  • Biopsychosocial education: Effective teaching and learning to provide a more holistic, ethical and comprehensive approach to patient case.

  • Wellness and resilience: Self-care, stress management, and mental health support approaches such as mindfulness and peer support networks. Curriculum reform, including flexible scheduling, reducing workload and modifying assessment practices to create a healthier learning environment and promote a culture of empathy and compassion in healthcare.

  • Data-driven and evidence-based medicine: Education in critical appraisal of biomedical literature, interpret research findings, and apply evidence-based practices in clinical decision-making.

    • Photo by Bermix Studio on Unsplash

    So, I hope it is interesting to consider why we should know the hot topics for research and identify topics that are warming up so that we can strive towards thoroughness in medical education research. We look forward to sharing more hot topics through the BMERG blog.

    “Medical education is not just a program for building knowledge and skills in its recipients… it is also an experience which creates attitudes and expectations.” Abraham Flexner

    You can also check out Grace’s recent hot topic blog on Reflexive Thematic Analysis here

    Do you have a hot topic that you would like to write about for BMERG? Get in touch at brms-bmerg@bristol.ac.uk

Training: Bristol Medical School Short Course Programme 2023/24

Posted on by sarah.allsop

If you are a health sciences education researcher and are looking for training in research methods, check out the new programme from Bristol Medical School Short Courses.

Photo by Amelia Bartlett on Unsplash

Short courses are designed for researchers and healthcare practitioners and cover a range of topics on research methodology, design and analysis in health sciences. From statistics to qualitative methods, data visualisations, or writing up journal papers, there is something to support your research journey.

Bookings will be available from midday on 17th October.

Find out more on the short course website or explore the chart of courses available month-by-month below.

Short-Course-Programme-Chart-2023-2024Download