Letter to the Editor on “Feedback Methods in an Interprofessional Mock Paging Program”

Dear Editor,

We would like to congratulate Mutter et al. on publishing an original piece of research on novel teaching methods for students [1]. We would like to make some contributions, whilst drawing on some of our own experiences as junior doctors.

Medical school curricula utilise a combination of theoretical and practical-based education, with a more recent emphasis on self-directed and student-centred learning. However, it has been shown that completing sessions that require active involvement where the student is fully engaged throughout (e.g. simulation) is more effective for building long-term confidence [2]. Therefore, the use of simulation is increasing, providing a safe space for students to practice [3].

We agree that feedback is crucial for self-improvement, although it should be provided in a constructive and positive way, as it can have a significant impact on students’ mental wellbeing [4]. This research demonstrates that receiving direct verbal feedback immediately after the phone calls instead of at the end led to a more significant improvement, thereby demonstrating how crucial constant feedback is to improving practice [1].

We received reports that UK final-year medical students did not feel adequately prepared to become a qualified doctor, and this is extensively supported by literature [5], although it is improving as curricula change [6]. Most papers on similar courses appear to be from the USA, and we argue that there is a need for similar programmes within the UK. As a result, we are currently running a similar course for final-year students during which students are “bleeped” to complete tasks around the hospital and have to use the SBAR format to give and receive handovers, receiving immediate and delayed feedback.

It is positive to see that published data demonstrates that these methods improve communication skills [2, 7], providing more evidence to embed this into a final-year curriculum. However, it has proven difficult to validate, and better standardisation of the process has to be ensured [2]. Additionally, the inter-professional nature of the programme is extremely valuable, and could also be incorporated routinely into medical curricula, which creates more respect and unity between doctors and nurses from the outset [2, 7].

In conclusion, we argue that there is a definite need for simulation-based sessions to continue to become a standard within future medical school curricula, particularly those that focus on working effectively with colleagues, and confidence building for newly qualified doctors.

Author Contribution

All authors discussed, wrote and edited the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Data Availability

Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no datasets were generated or analysed.

Declarations

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare no competing interests.