The educational value of ward rounds for junior trainees

Abstract

The ward round (WR) is a complex task and medical teachers are often faced with the challenge of finding a balance between service provision and clinical development of learners. The educational value of WRs is an under-researched area. This short communication aims to evaluate the educational role of WRs for junior trainees and provides insight into current practices. It also identifies obstacles to effective teaching/training in this setting and provides suggestions for improving the quality of WR teaching.

Rounds Today: A Qualitative Study of Internal Medicine and Pediatrics Resident Perceptions

“…For faculty: teaching strategies to establish roles and expectations that maximize clinical education while minimizing inefficiencies; for residents: the utility of patient interactions in clinical education, and the value and proper delivery of FCR; and for program directors: aligning the rotation objectives with those milestones that can be demonstrated during inpatient team interactions. 20 For a complete list of milestones and their definitions and assessment criteria, please visit https://www.acgme.org/acgmeweb/ Portals/0/PDFs/Milestones/InternalMedicineMilestones.pdf.…”

“…These findings point to a need for attendings to define the roles of participants on rounds and set clear expectations for presentations; observations are supported by the literature on effective bedside teaching. 15,[18][19][20] Faculty development and mentorship initiatives aimed at incorporating best teaching practices into rounds are promising solutions to address resident dissatisfaction with how rounds are run. 21 To better understand how participant perceptions about clinical education compared to their developmental goals, definitions of each clinical education code were compared to definitions of core pediatrics and internal medicine milestones to assess congruency (TABLES 3 and 4).…”

Opening the black box: An observational study of teaching and learning interactions for paediatrics trainees on consultant ward rounds

“…The potential consequence is for trainees to be pushed out of educational opportunities, when it is perhaps the key opportunity for consultants to observe their performance first hand. Literature tells us that specific and timely feedback is one of the most powerful tools for learning, yet our observations and evidence from ward rounds show how infrequently it occurs . Specific strategies are required to overcome the barriers to feedback in busy, complex clinical environments.…”

“…Literature tells us that specific and timely feedback is one of the most powerful tools for learning, yet our observations and evidence from ward rounds show how infrequently it occurs. 13,22 Specific strategies are required to overcome the barriers to feedback in busy, complex clinical environments.…”

Managing the Quality of Ward Based Training in Surgery in UK- A Critical Review

“…Students and trainees recognise the learning opportunity presented by the ward round [7] but find barriers to learning due to a lack of dedicated time for training especially for clinical and ward round skills [8,9]. Models to facilitate bedside training are available for clinical settings to ensure these opportunities are captured effectively [10].…”