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Welcome to the first issue of DoME News, formerly ACME News. ACME became part of the Division of Medical Education (DoME), one of the divisions of the Faculty of Biomedical Sciences (FBS) in the Autumn of 2006. The creation of the Division of Medical Education is an exciting opportunity. This newsletter will provide regular updates on the developments in the new division. It will keep you up to date with the undergraduate MBBS curriculum and the exams, together with new and exciting developments in the postgraduate courses supported by the faculty. DoME News is published once a term. The objectives of DoME are: •To support the seamless high quality

education of medical students from YR1 to YR6.

•To ensure both the integration of the programme across the two existing faculties (FLS and FBS) and throughout the five years, and the integration of teaching and learning policies and strategies

•To enhance and develop welfare and fitness to practise arrangements across the whole course

•To continue to ensure that the admissions service is appropriate for the selection of tomorrows doctors

•To enhance the status of learning and teaching within the medical school

•To create a transparent structure whereby money follows teaching

•To create a greater critical mass of supported & committed teachers, and a career structure and promotion prospects in medical education at UCL

•To integrate the administrative staff involved in medical education delivery and develop better central coordination with local implementation.

•To develop transparent agreements allowing research active staff to continue to devote the majority of their time to pure research activity, but for departments to be rewarded financially in relation to the amount of teaching delivered

•To support and advise on the relevant facilities and resources underpinning medical education.

DIVISION of MEDICAL EDUCATION

DoME NEWS Issue 1, September 2007

The main role of the Division of Medical Education (DoME) is to provide the infrastructure for maintaining excellence in education in a research led medical school.

DoME CONTACTS Director: Professor Jane Dacre

ACME Lead: Dr Deborah Gill Admissions Lead: Dr Brenda Cross Curriculum Management & Assessment Lead: Prof Irving Taylor Learning Resources Lead: Ms Deirdre Wallace Medical Student Administration Lead: Ms Gaynor Jones Quality Assurance Lead: Dr Anita Berlin SIFT Office & Finance Lead: Prof Jane Dacre Welfare/Fitness to Practice Lead: Dr Peter Raven

Division Administrator: Heather Mitchell DoME, Level 4, Holborn Union Building, Archway Campus, Highgate Hill, London N19 5LW Tel: 020 7288 5209 Email: [email protected]

DoME News ~ Editor: Dr Deborah Gill ~ Layout & Design: Leonie Hayes Tel: 020 7288 5964 Fax: 020 7288 3322 Email: [email protected]

URL: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dome

SUMMER 2007 MBBS & MB PhD GRADUATION Presentation Day took place in June at Alexandra Palace. From a total entry of 374 students, 354 passed, 39 with Distinction and 38 with Certificates of Merit. Catherine Culley was awarded the 1st Broderip & Atchison Prize for overall performance in the final MBBS examination and the Shiela Sherlock Prize for the highest number of Distintions. Thomas Cahill was awarded the 1st Helley & Atchison Clinical Prize. The London Gold Medal again went to a RF&UCMS student, Chris Chang. We wish all our graduates success in their coming careers.

Tel: 020 7288 5964 Fax: 020 7288 3322 Email: [email protected] website: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dome 2

It is a great honour to join University College London as Dean of the Faculty of Biomedical Sciences and Head of the Medical School. This is a marvellous university with a world wide reputation for excellence. It contains many of Europe’s most outstanding medical research and educational institutes. The progressive mergers of the Middlesex Hospital Medical School with University College Hospital London School and then with the Royal Free Hospital School have led to a Medical School of enormous depth and talent.

A great strength over the years has been the degree of excellence in the Faculty of Life Sciences with a long history of Nobel Laureates and Fellows of the Royal Society in many disciplines. This allows an outstanding grounding in basic medical science which has provided a strong framework for the clinical sciences. As with medical education internationally, there have been strong moves in this institution in recent years to integrate programmes across the whole of the medical education experience and to enhance and develop aspects of medical education relating to an understanding of communication, of personal development and of health and society.

We have had a recent planning meeting involving senior colleagues from Life Sciences and Biomedicine involved in the MBBS organisation and governance and have developed a strong buy in for a uniform managerial structure which will lead to increased cohesion in the Medical School as part of our new School of Life and Medical Sciences. We have the opportunity to build on an already strong base and develop increasingly outs tanding heal th educat ional experiences for our students. The Division of Medical Education is a crucial entity which underpins new developments in this area.

We are very fortunate at UCL in the calibre of the leadership we have represented by Professor Jane Dacre and

her outstanding team at the Archway, Bloomsbury and Royal Free sites. I look forward to meeting all of the staff over the Division of Medical Education and working with you to continue to improve the educational experience we offer and the outcomes we achieve over the next few years.

Professor Edward Byrne Executive Dean of UCL Faculty of Biomedical Sciences Head of the Medical School

MESSAGE FROM PROFESSOR ED BYRNE




We are delighted to welcome Professor Ed Byrne to UCL. He brings a wealth of experience in leadership of a modern and forward thinking medical school. This will help to support the progress that we are making in Medical Education. We continue to focus on delivering a broad science based and clinically strong curriculum in spite of the external turbulence in the profession. Our graduates are well versed in the practical aspects of clinical competence in addition to having a broad knowledge base, so should continue to thrive in the changing world of clinical medicine.

We have been reviewing the role of the new Division of Medical Education. One of the issues we really need to focus on is the integration of the MBBS programme. This has been difficult as we have traditionally spanned two Faculties. The creation of the Faculty of Biomedical Sciences, and the new School of Life and Medical Sciences will facilitate better collaborative working for the benefit of our students. We are holding a small number of workshops over the summer months to develop our ideas, ready to present to the faculty senior management team in the Autumn.

We are working increasingly well within the new divisional structure of the Faculty. One of the main strands of the current activity is the review and enhancement of the Postgraduate teaching across the divisions. There is a wealth of enthusiasm and expertise

amongst our colleagues in this area. We have set up a postgraduate education working group to share good practise, and to increase the overall number of postgraduate opportunities.

There are always several challenges in medical education. Now that we have a full division with the explicit responsibility

to focus on the teaching and learning activities of our undergraduate and postgraduate students, we are in a very strong position to address them. Professor Jane Dacre Vice Dean Director of Medical Education

MESSAGE FROM PROFESSOR JANE DACRE

ACADEMIC PROMOTION OF DR DAVID PATTERSON

We are delighted to announce the promotion to Professor of Dr David Patterson, Consultant in Cardiology and Vice Dean for the Archway Campus. David has been instrumental in developing the Archway Campus into an excellent teaching venue, both in terms of committed teachers and state of the art facilities.

Further to the publication in February of the UK Professional Standards Framework for teaching and supporting learning in higher education, we would draw your attention to an enhanced programme of support activities designed by the Centre for the Advancement of Learning and Teaching (CALT) to meet the needs of UCL staff.

These activities assist staff to meet the requirements of the UCL Professional Standards Framework for teaching and supporting learning alongside those offered by other parts of UCL such as Information Systems and Library Services.

The CALT academic development programme includes a wide range of short courses, seminars, workshops and consultancy services as well as award-bearing courses (PG Certificates, PG Diploma Education and MA Education).

We encourage you to take advantage of these opportunities for the benefit of both staff professional development and the UCL student experience.

Further information on short courses is available on the CALT website at: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/calt/academic-development/calt-short-courses/index.htm

Higher Education Academy Standards Framework – Implications for Medical Teachers

The new national framework for professional standards in teaching and supporting learning was launched by Universities UK (UUK), the Standing Conference of Principals (SCOP) and the Higher Education Academy (HEA) on the 23 February 2006. http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/regandaccr/StandardsFramework(1).pdf

The framework was developed by the Academy after extensive consultation with the higher education sector. For the first time the

standards outline what is expected of all teachers involved in the higher education sector. Medical educators do not fit neatly into the categories normally used for university teachers and so DoME are working with both the HEA and with the Centre for the Advancement of Learning and Teaching (CALT) at UCL to try to define how we will help our medical teachers to achieve the HEA standards. Dr Anita Berlin, the Vice Dean for Quality, has already begun to map out quality standards for clinical teachers as a first step in this direction. http://www.ucl.ac.uk/medicalschool/quality As most medical educators fit into the HEA classification of ‘occasional teachers’ this will probably mean the HEA will ask DoME to set out probationary requirements, define appropriate standards in line with HEA standards, and set out mechanisms of staff development to address these.

A number of HEA standard compliant staff development courses are available to medical teachers either via the Teaching Improvement Project System (TIPS) project or, for those holding honorary or substantive UCL contracts, with CALT.

Deborah Gill [email protected] and Anita Berlin [email protected] will be working towards the implementation of the standards on behalf of the medical school and would welcome thoughts and suggestions from medical educators across the school and community.

CURRICULUM UPDATE

CALT's ACADEMIC DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME



Tel: 020 7288 5964 Fax: 020 7288 3322 Email: [email protected] website: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dome

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It is a principle of an organisation committed to teaching and learning to seek to identify and reward those making an outstanding commitment to students and their education. The Faculty of Biomedical Sciences has updated the Medical School’s award scheme for the recognition of excellence in teaching and the facilitation of medical student learning.

The aim of these Awards is to provide a tangible means of recognition of exceptional contribution to education in any phase of the

MBBS programme. We are delighted to announce the

winners of the first Excellence in Medical Education Awards. The standard was very high and the competition stiff. The Team award this year has been split between two exceptionally strong applications. The newly instated Saad al-Damluji Award was given to Dr Caroline Fertleman for her outstanding clinical teaching. All the winners attended the Graduation Ceremony on 27th June to receive their award.

Last week at Alexandra Palace I received an Excellence in Medical Education Award and the Saad al-Damluji Prize. It was a ceremony attended by all the other prize winners and more importantly the class of 2007 – all those who have passed their MBBS to qualify as doctors. It was a very fitting occasion to have both together and to recognise the huge input of teaching that every newly qualifying doctor needs in order to succeed.

It was a significant honour for me to receive a prize named in honour of Saad al-Damluji an enthusiastic, c l i n i ca l t eache r who unfortunately passed away at a young age due to cancer. Additionally I am pleased to have been allowed to apply for this award not only to put teaching high up on the agenda but also to have the

opportunity to promote and have recognised either an individual’s or a team’s teaching excellence.

By applying for this award I was able to consider my teaching; not only its strengths but also where improvements could be made. I was able to consider what types of teaching I undertake but also where I have been instrumental in curriculum and assessment development and change. In my application I chose to illustrate different aspects of my teaching rather than list all of what I teach. My philosophy is to be energetic and enthusiastic and to be able to continue this, as part of my application, I put examples of my teaching, evaluation and the direction I wish to take in the future. Teaching is getting an increasingly higher profile

and it is very exciting to play my small part in its p r o m o t i o n . I w o u l d encourage anyone who enjoys teaching and who goes that extra mile to submit an application for next year’s awards.

You can see Caroline’s application on the QA website to give you some ideas about how to put together a successful application at http://www.ucl.ac.uk/medicalschool/quality

Report by Caroline Fertleman

INDIVIDUAL WINNERS Barbara Contopoulos Dr Will Coppola Shirley Cupit Dr Caroline Fertleman Dr Claire Kaye

Beverly Peter Dr Pamela Philips Dr Adrian Wagg Dr Wit Woothipoom Dr Jane Zuckerman

TEAM WINNERS Clinical Skills Deirdre Wallace, Glenda Baillie, Michael Klingenberg, Catherine Phillips, Tina Nyazika, Nicola Mathastein

Whittington Obstetrics & Gynaecology/Midwifery Heulwen Morgan, Carol Saunders, Therese Bourne

EXCELLENCE IN MEDICAL EDUCATION AWARDS 2006-07

Congratulations to Michael Klingenberg, one of the clinical skills tutors, who has recently been awarded a Postgraduate Certificate in Education.



For some months now members of DoME have been working with Sara Baillie of the Royal Veterinary College at Hatfield to help them to develop a peer assisted learning (PAL) programme for veterinary students. Sarah and her team became interested in developing a programme after seeing Deborah Gill present a project on PALS at the Clinical Skills Conference in Prato, Italy. Sarah and some of her staff attended the TIPS course and PAL training events and have adapted some of the teaching materials for their own use. Senior veterinary students are now involved in a range of

successful PAL projects. The interaction and sharing of good

practice has been a two way process: Deborah and Deirdre Wallace have visited the Clinical Skills Centre at the Veterinary College and have been particularly impressed by the The Haptic Cow: a virtual reality simulator developed to train veterinary students to palpate the bovine reproductive tract, to perform fertility examinations and to diagnose pregnancy. The simulator uses haptic (touch feedback) technology, which allows a user to interact with a 3D virtual environment

through the sense of touch. When being trained with the Haptic Cow, the student palpates computer generated virtual objects resembling parts of the bovine reproductive tract. The teacher provides instruction and feedback while following the student's actions inside the cow on the computer monitor.

Sarah and Deborah are now working together on a project to look at a new simulator that can assist with a set of core palpation skills that become the building blocks of a whole range of procedures. It is hoped that the simulator could easily be adapted for medical training.

ACME NEWS

Sharing Good Practice across the disciplines



It is well documented that UCL plays a major role on the international stage in terms of education provision and research and the Academic Centre for Medical Education (ACME) is no exception.

ACME was approached earlier this year by the Libyan Board of Medical Specialties (equivalent to the Royal College of Physicians in the UK) via a Libyan Paediatrician, who practises in the UK, to deliver the TIPS course in Libya.

The first thing we did was pool our knowledge of the country. Wasn’t it Muslim? Yes definitely, and they spoke Arabic. It was in North Africa, and the flight was probably about five hours long (just over two in fact). We were told by our hosts that we could expect a polite reception and that the level of English would be very high. Libya is also a wealthy country with the resources and inclination to modernise. In Libya the medical curriculum follows ‘traditional’ methodology and there is no formal teaching training provided, as was very much the case in the UK ten years ago.

On arrival at Tripoli International airport our passports were taken from us and we were asked to wait while they were processed. The following day, bright and early, the teaching began. The course was attended by 21 Paediatricians from across Libya. These participants had been encouraged to attend, but given that

a lecturer gets paid at least four times as much as a non-academic clinician, and therefore academic posts are seen as prestigious, most were keen to be amongst the academic pioneers.

TIPS programmes are highly evaluated h e r e a t R F & U C M S and similarly the course was very well received in Libya.

From the first session, enthusiastic i n t e r a c t i o n took place and participants held similar views to us about effective teaching and learning. There were, of course, a few cultural miscommunications, and teaching was demanding. It required much thinking on our feet, checking with our Libyan colleague from the UK that our interpretations of participants’ responses and our understanding of their perspectives were correct.

The feedback was very positive and we have been asked to return in December to Libya, this time to Benghazi, to deliver the course together with a one day workshop on assessment. It is proposed that after the delivery of these we will discuss

formalising the relationship between the Libyan Board of Medical Specialties and ACME over a five year period. We look forward to continuing to support the Libyan Board of Medical Specialties in their implementation of innovations in learning and teaching in Medical Education. Jane Richardson and Kath Woolf, November 2006

ACME NEWS TIPS in Libya DIVISION of MEDICAL EDUCATION

For the last 10 years ACME has worked together with the General Medical Council to develop and run objective tests of competence for use in assessing poorly performing doctors. Since these tests were developed in 1997, 500 assessments have been completed and these have shown clear differences in the standard of performance of doctors referred for a ‘fitness to practise’ review as compared to a volunteer group.

Over the last 18 months as part of our collaboration with the GMC, we have been reviewing and updating these assessments to ensure all the material is up to date and in keeping with the guidance provided in ‘Good Medical Practice’ .

Following recommendations provided by the Postgraduate Medical Education Board (PMETB) regarding the ‘best practice’ for knowledge tests, we have altered the format of our assessment to only include Single Best Answer (SBA) and Extended Matching Questions (EMQ). The ‘old’ tests were reviewed and edited by cross-specialty writing groups; the same groups wrote new questions concentrating in the areas of ‘Good Medical Practice’ that had not previously been tested.

Different working groups also reviewed and edited the OSCE stations (objective structured clinical examination) which is used to assess the doctor’s practical and

communication skills as well as their clinical method. New stations were written to utilise the advances that have been made in computer simulation technology and manikins.

To assess the validity, reliability and feasibility of these new assessments we have held two ‘validation’ weeks in October and November 2006. During these weeks, volunteer doctors from seven separate specialties took the ‘new’ tests and were assessed by trained examiners. The results and feedback obtained by both the volunteers and assessors is currently being assessed before any new material is included in an actual assessment.

In 2007, we have planned for a further 3 weeks of ‘validation’ and using the data collected would hope to start including the ‘new’ material in assessments by the end of the year.

ACME AND THE GMC PROJECT



Would you like to participate in the validation of assessment instruments for the General Medical Council (GMC)? The GMC has developed assessment procedures for investigating poorly performing doctors. The assessment instruments for this process are under constant review to ensure that they are pertinent and up to date. The Academic Centre for Medical Education, (ACME), at UCL, carries out this work with the GMC and needs practising doctors of good stand-ing to take a written test and a set of clinical skills tests in an OSCE (Objective Structured Clinical Examination) format. This will enable us to vali-date the tests. The tests are set at the level of doc-tors starting FY2. We are also looking for experi-enced OSCE assessors. Doctors taking the tests will receive a fee of £350,

plus travel expenses. Assessors will also be paid. The day will last from 9:30 to 4:30.The venue will be the General Medical Council offices on Euston Road in London. CPD credits will be given. Avail-able sessions:

Validation Day Specialty 5 November 2007 Emergency Medicine 6 November 2007 Emergency Medicine 11 December 2007 Emergency Medicine 12 December 2007 Emergency Medicine 7 November 2007 General Medicine 8 November 2007 General Medicine 13 December 2007 General Medicine 14 December 2007 General Medicine

Contact: Joanne Turner [email protected] indicat-ing the day you want to attend and whether you are a volunteer test-taker or an assessor.

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