STRIVING FOR COMPETENT LECTURES AND SUPERVISORS IN THE CLINICAL WORKPLACE

The South African Committee of Medical Deans (SACoMD), supported by the Colleges of Medicine of South Africa (CMSA), has called for the implementation of workplace-based assessment (WBA) in all post graduate specialities across the country.

In line with this, clinical supervisors from the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences attended a two-day Supervisor Workplace Assessment Training (SWAT) workshop, which served as an opportunity for them to gain the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to perform assessments and provide feedback in the workplace.

Family Physician and WSU Senior Lecturer, Dr Madeleine Muller, said the objective was for clinical supervisors to observe registrars in the workplace, access and give feedback on how they are doing.

“WBA plays a pivotal role in healthcare education by bridging the gap between learning and clinical practice. It ensures that healthcare professionals meet established competency standards by evaluating their performance. WBA’s effectiveness relies on complying to the set standard, assessment and evidence,” said Muller, who is also the convenor for CMSA.

She added that through this project between the universities and the colleges, more than 200 doctors had been trained up to date, with the desired total being 550.

The sessions were conducted by facilitators from across disciplines, namely Anaesthesiology, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Family Medicine and Rural Health, with each facilitator explaining their presentations.

“My lecture series titled ‘Know yourself, your environment and registrar’, emphasised on emotional intelligence and healthy communication skills to create safe training environments, important in healthcare,” said Muller.

Meanwhile HOD for Anaesthesiology and Critical Care, Professor Busisiwe Mrara’s session focused on giving effective feedback and fostering safe learning environments, balancing student development and humaneness.

Mrara said this advised supervisors on various methods of giving feedback in busy clinical environment.

“The engagement was well received and immensely enjoyed by participants and lecturers alike, as it served as a platform to engage and share experiences,” added Mrara.

Representing Obs and Gynae, was Dr Nontsikelelo Gubu-Ntaba, whose session delved deep into the practicalities of WBA implementation and assessment, giving the supervisors valuable advice on setting up in their departments.

WSU has incorporated this training to Master of Medicine (MMed) students in the faculty. It is on the front curb of this project and will be the first to organise the online version, which is coming up next month.

Ending the workshop, Muller said the training consists of 4 modules, with each module divided into an asynchronous, online component and an interactive, contact session.

After a successful completion of the 8 components (4 online and 4 contact) training course, the participants qualify for a short course certificate on SWAT on WBA.

By Thandeka Mgqibi