Improvisation in the Time of a Pandemic: Field Notes on Resilience

Mehta, Ankit; Fessell, David

doi:10.4300/jgme-d-21-00663.1

Cited by 7 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 27 publications

(36 reference statements)

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“…PEP Talks is an effective virtual medical improv program. This small-scale innovative educational program supports previous literature suggesting the benefits of medical improv for physician well-being, reflective practice, and communication and collaboration skills [ 4 , 7 , 12 , 13 ]. To our knowledge, PEP Talks is the first program specifically designed for postgraduate psychiatry trainees.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

“…The program’s positive impact on participant well-being (surveyed as a secondary outcome) is unexpectedly noteworthy and may be related to the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Medical improv inherently emphasizes adaptability and flexibility, which may be particularly valuable for enhancing resilience in uncertain situations such as variant outbreaks [ 13 ]. An interesting and unanticipated reflection from participants is the collective joy experienced through the virtual improv program, despite “Zoom fatigue.” Zoom fatigue appears to be driven in part by the loss of non-verbal cues, enhanced awareness of one’s own reflection, and passivity [ 14 , 15 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Off-Script, Online: Virtual Medical Improv Pilot Program for Enhancing Well-being and Clinical Skills among Psychiatry Residents

et al. 2023

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Objective Clinical interactions demand a balance of structure and flexibility in response to unpredictable situations. Medical improv is a form of experiential learning that applies techniques from improvisational theater to the healthcare setting, deliberately targeting clinical skills of communication, teamwork, and cognitive abilities. Psychiatry Education through Play and Talk ( PEP Talks ) is a novel medical improv program designed specifically for psychiatry residents with the goal of improving communication, teamwork, and conflict resolution skills, as well as enhancing residents’ well-being and capacity for self-reflection. Methods PEP Talks was delivered virtually by an experienced medical improv facilitator in spring 2021 to a self-selected group of psychiatry residents at a Canadian university. Aligned with the context-input-process–product (CIPP) evaluation model, outcomes were assessed through mixed methods surveys, recorded debriefings, and a focus group. Results PEP Talks enhanced residents’ self-reported well-being, reflective capacity, and communication skills. Participants made qualitative connections between PEP Talks and their well-being, inter- and intra-personal skills, and clinical experiences in psychiatry. Processes in PEP Talks that led to these outcomes included the following: joy, building community, personal reflection and discovery, going off-script, immersion, and virtual engagement. Conclusions Virtual medical improv offers an innovative solution to the pedagogical challenges of training psychiatrists to be proficient communicators, collaborators, and professionals capable of reflective practice. Additionally, this innovation demonstrates that medical improv can be delivered in a virtual format and may offer a unique solution to support resident well-being and foster connection amid remote learning during a global pandemic.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Off-Script, Online: Virtual Medical Improv Pilot Program for Enhancing Well-being and Clinical Skills among Psychiatry Residents

et al. 2023

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Medical improv may also relieve stress and anxiety in students who participate in the activities (Mehta & Fessell, 2022 ; Watson, 2011 ). It has been previously noted that protective factors against burnout in graduate medical education include grit, resiliency, social support, and psychological flexibility (Wood et al., 2020 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Implementing a medical improv curriculum in medical education has been suggested to improve uncertainty tolerance and create supportive and accepting environments (Felsman et al., 2020 ; Mehta et al., 2021 ). By encouraging students to develop skills that may protect them from burnout, improv training can allow students to better handle the stressors present in their training (Mehta & Fessell, 2022 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Exploring a brief medical improvisational performing arts intervention for genetic counseling graduate students

Scherr

Fenter

et al. 2022

Journal of Genetic Counseling

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Psychosocial counseling is the foundation of genetic counseling. Genetic counseling students are required to receive in‐depth training on psychosocial counseling techniques. In other medical disciplines, “medical improv,” an educational method derived from improvisational theatre, has been used to allow trainees to practice clinical skills without also having to focus on medical knowledge they've not yet mastered. The present study aims to investigate the acceptability of medical improv as an educational tool for genetic counseling students. Fourteen genetic counseling students and new genetic counselors completed a 2‐hr medical improv workshop and participated in follow‐up interviews to discuss the workshop. Participants’ responses to the intervention were positive, with 92.9% of participants responding that they would recommend medical improv training to other genetic counseling students. Participants described the medical improv workshop as helping build psychosocial skills in a safe environment, which may facilitate the use of more advanced counseling skills in clinical situations. By training students to practice psychosocial skills and building students’ confidence, medical improv may help genetic counseling students and genetic counselors be more effective in challenging clinical situations, and to feel more comfortable in experimenting with new ideas and psychosocial techniques in their clinical practice.

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“Something we must be proud of”: An interview and document study of team improvisation in the Dutch convalescent plasma project group

Langi Sasongko,

Vrielink,

de Bruijne

2024

Health Science Reports

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Background and AimsThe COVID‐19 pandemic has revealed the importance of organizational resilience, the ability to effectively respond to a disruptive event before, during, and after it occurs. Team improvisation is an important component of organizational resilience as it describes characteristics of team skills and contextual qualities to create order from chaos. In Spring 2020, the Dutch national blood bank, began the convalescent plasma project (CCP). We aimed to study which elements of team improvisation in the CCP group were found and how lessons learned can contribute towards a non‐crisis situation for blood establishments.MethodsUsing Vera and Crossan's framework of improvisation, semi‐structured interviews with eight members of the CCP group were conducted. This was simultaneous to performing a document analysis of 21 Intranet posts and seven internal reports. MAXDA 2020 was used to conduct deductive and inductive thematic analyses.ResultsThe CCP group showed strong characteristics of expertise and memory, teamwork quality, experimental culture, and real‐time information and communication that enabled them to improvise in all aspects of the donation process. Improvisation examples included comprehensive communication methods to identify and obtain new donors, asking additional intake questions and collecting additional aliquots to store while waiting for an internal antibody test to be developed, and regulatory respondents allowing a flexible change control procedure to meet the pace of the crisis. Training was evident to a lesser degree.ConclusionWhile improvisation impacted set routines and procedures, the safety and quality of the product were not affected. Regarding organizational resilience, our results showed that the CCP group “coped” well using elements of team improvisation. Blood establishments may consider introducing improvisational training and innovation teams throughout the organization for future preparedness and improving organizational resilience.

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Improvisation in the Time of a Pandemic: Field Notes on Resilience

Cited by 7 publications

References 27 publications

Off-Script, Online: Virtual Medical Improv Pilot Program for Enhancing Well-being and Clinical Skills among Psychiatry Residents

Off-Script, Online: Virtual Medical Improv Pilot Program for Enhancing Well-being and Clinical Skills among Psychiatry Residents

Exploring a brief medical improvisational performing arts intervention for genetic counseling graduate students

“Something we must be proud of”: An interview and document study of team improvisation in the Dutch convalescent plasma project group

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