The Medical Education Unit is involved in a number of projects, including:
Learning Responsibility? Exploring Doctors' Transitions to New Levels of Medical Performance
All doctors experience many transitions, both during their training and subsequent careers. These transitions include changes in status and seniority, changes in geographical location, change of speciality, change of clinical team but little is known about their effects on doctors' performance. This study will use a combination of desk based research, interviews and observations to investigate selected key transitions at four levels - individual, clinical teams, employers and the regulatory and policy context.
Feminisation of medicine? Doctors’ perspectives about the impact of gender on medicine
During the past 10 years there has been a significant increase in the number of women in medicine. Despite this, medicine still demonstrates horizontal (women concentrated in certain areas of work) and vertical segregation. There have also been significant changes to speciality training in the past 3 years. Gender differences exist in the numbers applying to and succeeding in various specialities: women are more likely to be successful in gaining a training place if they apply to certain specialties but, over all specialities, women are not choosing to apply for the most competitive specialties. There has been much debate about the consequent implications for the delivery of healthcare and practice of medicine.
Assessment and Learning in Practice Settings (ALPS)
ALPS is working to improve the confidence and competence of graduating health and social care students. The programme has developed an interprofessional assessment and e-portfolio system which allows students on work placements to use paper, PCs or mobile devices to complete and upload assessments. As well as promoting interprofessional assessment of core competences, ALPS is encouraging service user and carer involvement in student feedback.
Centre for Research in Professional Education
Professional Education crosses many faculty boundaries although most educational research activity is discipline specific. The rationale for establishing the Centre is that raising awareness of the different paradigms and current activities will foster an interdisciplinary approach to common problems.
