Medical Students’ Non-Technical Skills (Medi-StuNTS): preliminary work developing a behavioural marker system for the non-technical skills of medical students in acute care

Abstract

IntroductionGood non-technical skills (NTS) are critical to the delivery of high-quality patient care. It is increasingly recognised that training in such skills should be incorporated into primary medical training curricula. This study aimed to develop an NTS behavioural marker system (BMS), specifically applicable to medical students, for use within simulated acute care scenarios.MethodsThe methodology used to develop other BMS was adopted and modified. Following ethical approval, 16 final year medical students participated in acute care simulated scenarios. Semistructured interviews were performed to gauge the understanding of NTS. A panel meeting of subject matter experts was convened to translate key NTS into skill elements and observable behaviours. A second expert panel was consulted to refine aspects of the BMS. Further refinement and initial face validity was undertaken by a third panel of experts using the prototype BMS to observe prerecorded simulation scenarios.ResultsFive categories of NTS were identified: situation awareness, teamwork and communication, decision-making and prioritisation, self-awareness, and escalating care. Observable behaviours in each category describe good and poor performance. Escalating care was identified as a unique component that incorporated behaviours related to each of the other four skill categories. A 5-point rating scale was developed to enable both peer-to-peer and tutor-to–student feedback.ConclusionThe Medi-StuNTS (Medical Students’ Non-Technical Skills) system is the first BMS for the NTS of medical students. It reinforces the importance of escalating care effectively. It provides an exciting opportunity to provide feedback to medical students and may ultimately aid their preparedness for professional practice.

Use of non-technical skills can predict medical student performance in acute care simulated scenarios

“…The proposed NT assessment tool can potentially enhance medical student education and builds on the existing toolkit for NT skills assessment. Constructs identified critical to ACTS mirrored work by Hamilton et al 23 , which included an additional "escalating care" metric, and the Physician-Patient Interaction Global Rating Scale by Hull et al 24 , which is a validated tool that included metrics such as the physician's empathy and amount of organization. The identified domains where students scored lower could be used to provide better personalized feedback to students.…”

Exploring transformative learning when developing medical students' non‐technical skills

“…Simulation sessions include discussion on NTS alongside technical aspects of clinical care. In order to standardise the approach to NTS across the four universities, simulation leads at all four medical schools were asked to run simulation sessions using a behavioural marker system designated Medical Students' Non‐Technical Skills (Medi‐StuNTS) and designed to facilitate the development of NTS in final‐year medical students . Medi‐StuNTS consists of five broad categories of NTS and provides observable behaviours within these to allow recognition and guide the delivery of focused feedback to final‐year medical students.…”

“…In order to standardise the approach to NTS across the four universities, simulation leads at all four medical schools were asked to run simulation sessions using a behavioural marker system designated Medical Students' Non-Technical Skills (Medi-StuNTS) and designed to facilitate the development of NTS in final-year medical students. 39…”

W16 Developing the non-technical skills of medical students: using a behavioural marker system in immersive simulation

“…1 This interactive session will detail the development, piloting and validation of a recently published behavioural marker system designed to facilitate the formative assessment of medical students' non-technical skills, including their ability to escalate care effectively. 2 Intended learning outcomes By the end of this session participants will:…”