Medical educators’ views and experiences of trigger warnings in teaching sensitive content

Abstract

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creat ive Commo ns Attri bution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Medical students' views on the value of trigger warnings in education: A qualitative study

“…13 Personal trauma history may influence perspectives and value participants assign to warnings. However, we also recognised that trigger warnings may be viewed as serving wider pedagogical function, including development of understanding and empathy towards trauma amongst non-affected individuals, as suggested by previous studies 10,28,34 or, conversely, impeding learning experiences; thus, all students on the 4-year programme were openly sampled, capturing diverse perspectives and their evolution through programme progression.…”

“…26,27 Incorporation of trigger warnings could promote accessibility by enabling reasonable accommodations for students with trauma histories or mental health difficulties 10,11 and signal that well-being is valued in the organisation and profession, as previously described by medical educators. 28 Diversity of medical student populations is increasing internationally, in response to measures to ensure representation of the served patient populations. 29,30 Significant increases in numbers of students admitted from educationally and socially disadvantaged backgrounds as well as groups from ethnic minorities and students experiencing disability 31 are noted-all groups noted to experience higher incidence of adversity.…”

“…Our previous semi-structured interview study exploring the views and practice of medical educators identified that educators regularly employed warnings in classrooms settings. 28 They cited various rationales beyond mitigating hyperarousal as well as a number of concerns relating to use of warnings. A single study of medical student perspectives, a subsection of a larger survey, exploring students' views suggested warnings may have a role in teaching about trauma but did not establish clear consensus regarding support for warnings.…”

Approaching distressing or sensitive topics in medical school

“…Two articles in this issue, Medical educators' views and experiences of trigger warnings in teaching sensitive content 1 and Exploring how physician‐educators approach politically charged topics with learners , 2 offer reflections on the changing expectations society has of medical professionals. In both, we find insights into the emotional states that help students learn along with the promotion of safe and positive learning environments.…”

“…It should be in part practice for what's going to come. We should at least make the transition to being a doctor as comfortable as possible for them’ 1, p. 1‐37 . This same article described the importance of enabling self‐awareness, self‐care and coping strategies given the view of participants that these are fundamental ‘professional competencies necessary for later clinical practice’ 1, p. 1‐37 …”