Members posters

Abstract

Reliability of the use of a diagnosticassessment tool in relation to the performance of foundation doctors using a simulated ward exercise J S Ker BackgroundThere is increasing demand for medical school curricula to cover "human" qualities essential to good practice, such as empathy, advanced communication skills and team working. The medical humanities have much to contribute to this, but integrating humanities into the curriculum is a challenge for academics in medical education and clinician educators who may be sceptical about relevance.Students can be resistant to ideas they suspect might be superfluous or 'woolly', and experts may feel defensive of their own disciplines in a new field. How can medical humanities be delivered in a way that overcomes disciplinary differences and provides clear clinical relevance? Work doneWe describe the establishment of an innovative medical humanities curriculum at one of the new UK medical schools. We chart development from an academic-led discipline to an integrative curriculum theme staffed by a collaborative team of academic/artists/clinician and student/patient 'partners'. We illustrate experiences of collaborative planning, resulting in an innovative and popular portfolio of plenaries, workshops and extracurricular activities. We also discuss an assessment strategy for this curriculum theme. ConclusionsTaking into account multi-professional interaction, and the practical realities of teaching humanities to medical students, we outline the challenges and benefits of adopting a collaborative approach. We emphasize particularly the importance of balancing rigorous theoretical underpinnings with clinical relevance and testing the impact of our efforts with appropriate assessment methods. Take home messagesThe integration of academic and clinical staff with artists, students and patients in curriculum development is initially challenging but highly beneficial to professional development. It is invaluable in helping staff and students critically to explore subjective, creative and 'humane' aspects of their medical learning, knowledge and practice. 117The Design, Implementation The need for all health care staff to practice professionally, treating patients with respect and recognising diversity is firmly embedded in modern practice and in society. In recognition of the need for culturally competent patient care, undergraduate and postgraduate curricula for health professionals within the UK now have an increased focus in this area. Recent years have seen a significant increase in published studies describing formal teaching of cultural competence. However, instances where cultural/diversity issues are formally assessed within training programmes are more rare. From the perspective that assessment drives learning, and that the engagement of trainees during equality and diversity training can be challenging, we have designed and implemented a cultural competence programme for postgraduate Vocational Dental Practitioners (VDPs) within Scotland that includes a formal OSCE as...