PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

J E Thistlethwaite

Publications and source records attributed to J E Thistlethwaite.

13 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2003

Valuing diversity: helping medical students explore their attitudes and beliefs.

The General Medical Council of the United Kingdom has defined a set of standards for doctors dealing with patients, including respecting the diversity of lifestyles and beliefs of patients. These have been incorporated into Personal and Professional Development (PPD) course unit of the undergraduate medical curriculum at Leeds University. The objectives of PPD include helping students understand how age, gender, culture, sexuality and disability affect how events are experienced or perceived. In 2002 seminars were run on valuing diversity to encourage students to develop insight into and reflect on their own attitudes to diversity. The sessions were evaluated and assessed by means of student feedback and as part of a written PPD exercise. Students rated the sessions highly and appeared to learn a great deal about diversity including approaches to communication and breaking down stereotypes. Their evaluation will help to improve the course.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗
PubMed2003

Medical students' attitudes towards concordance in medicine taking: exploring the impact of an educational intervention.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Concordance has been suggested as a new way of describing the agreement about medicine taking during the consultation process. The aim is a decision on management agreed on by both doctor and patient. As such it has strong links with shared decision-making and patient partnership. In order to encourage doctors to adopt a concordant model, we need to foster a positive attitude towards the concept. We decided to investigate the attitudes of first and second year medical students towards concordance as a base for further educational interventions. SETTING: The School of Medicine, Leeds University. METHODS: We administered the Leeds Attitude toward Concordance scale (LATCon) to first and second year medical students at the beginning of the academic year, and to the same second year students after they had completed a written exercise relating to concordance. RESULTS: The response rate was over 80% for each group. There was no difference in the attitudes towards concordance of the first years and the second years prior to the intervention. After they had completed the exercise, the second years' attitudes towards concordance improved by a small but significant amount. CONCLUSIONS: A paper-based exercise with questions focusing on concordance and based around cases appears to improve medical students' attitudes towards the concept. This exercise needs to be followed up with skills training and observation of role models in order that the attitudes of the students translate into practice once they are qualified.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗
PubMed2002

Making and sharing decisions about management with patients: the views and experiences of pre-registration house officers in general practice and hospital.

OBJECTIVES: To explore the views and experiences of pre-registration house officers (PRHOs) in general practice and hospital settings regarding the concept of patient partnership and their experience of involving patients in management decisions. DESIGN: The 12 PRHOs who had graduated from British universities and who were working within the Yorkshire Deanery were interviewed towards the end of their four-month general practice attachments. The interviews were semi-structured and analysed qualitatively. RESULTS: Three major themes emerged. The PRHOs perceived differences in approach between consultations carried out in hospital and primary care settings, with general practitioners being more likely to share information and decisions with patients. As medical students, the PRHOs had little opportunity to practise sharing information and management decisions with patients, and variable experience of this after graduation. On the whole they were favourable to the concept of patient partnership. CONCLUSIONS: Medical students and PRHOs lack training and opportunities to decide on management and discuss this with patients and yet, particularly in general practice settings, they have to practise these skills. The PRHOs had begun to develop strategies to decide how much information to give to patients and to what extent to involve patients in management decisions. This is an area that needs further consideration when planning both undergraduate and postgraduate medical education.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗
PubMed2000

First step: report on a pilot course for personal and professional development.

OBJECTIVE: To describe a pilot course in personal and professional development, entitled 'Becoming a doctor: the first step' and our suggestions for what might be incorporated into future courses. SETTING AND CONTEXT: Leeds Medical School begins a new curriculum in September 1999 with a proportion of the first 3 years being devoted to a new module on personal and professional development. This module will include courses involving communication skills, ethics, working in groups and early patient contact through community visits. Some of these topics were piloted in a short course for first-year medical students in 1998. LEARNING METHODS: The course ran for 9 weeks and was largely experiential. The group facilitators came from diverse health and social care backgrounds. A variety of learning methods were used, concentrating on self-reflection, discussion, community visits and information gathering. EVIDENCE FOR EFFECTIVENESS: The views of both facilitators and students were analysed. Students particularly appreciated the community visits and group work. The facilitators were positive about the course overall while suggesting improvements, including their own involvement in future development of the course. CONCLUSIONS: The pilot course has helped us to focus on objectives for the new curriculum and to plan the new course. In particular there is a need for more attention to be given to the involvement of facilitators in course development.

Community Medicine↗
PubMed2000

Introducing community-based teaching of third year medical students: outcomes of a pilot project one year later and implications for managing change.

INTRODUCTION: British undergraduate medical education is undergoing change, including a greater emphasis being placed on community-based teaching. These changes need to be evaluated for their educational outcomes, but there also needs to be a review of the process of introducing change and its subsequent management. THE SETTING: During the academic year 1996/97 a new project was piloted at Leeds University. Fifty-three third year medical students were attached in groups of four to general practitioner tutors in a primary care setting for four days in order to improve consultation skills. There was an emphasis on adopting a patient-centered approach, particularly asking patients about their concerns. METHOD: These students were asked to fill in a questionnaire to determine whether the community-based teaching has made any lasting impression on their attitudes and performance. The response rate was 80%. The students commented that even only four days of community-based teaching had helped them realize the importance of asking about patients' concerns. They also reported beginning to concentrate on psychosocial issues while talking to patients, issues that are often ignored by medical students. The students' comments are contrasted with those of the hospital-based tutors, some of whom have looked less than favorably on the project. DISCUSSION: The introduction of any new learning experience needs to be evaluated both in the short term and in the long term. This study begins to address long-term evaluation and suggests that a brief attachment can be memorable to students and beneficial one year later.

Journal Article↗
PubMed1999

Patient-centred consultations: a comparison of student experience and understanding in two clinical environments.

OBJECTIVES: To explore students' perspectives on doctor-patient communication. DESIGN: We interviewed students in focus groups before and after their placements. In semistructured interviews they were asked about their experiences of learning through clinical contact, with particular emphasis on patient-centred consultations, on the wards and during their community attachment. Students whose clinical skills training remained hospital-based were also interviewed to compare the range of experiences. SETTING: Leeds University. SUBJECTS: Third-year medical students. RESULTS: During hospital training students are rarely introduced, either through teaching or observation, to the idea of patient-centred consultations. In contrast both the principles underpinning and/or the practice of such consultations were routinely encountered during the general practice placement. Students considered the community attachment to have helped them appreciate the value of exploring patients' concerns both in terms of enhancing the patients' overall healthcare experience and promoting effective clinical management. While they considered the nature and purpose of hospital care to be qualitatively different from that conducted in the community, the relevance of adopting a patient-centred approach on the wards was confirmed. CONCLUSIONS: Recommendations for clinical training are made. The relevance and best use of community and hospital-based attachments need to be evaluated further.

Communication↗
PubMed1990

Creative intervention strategies in the management of perinatal loss.

The personal grief experienced by a mother who has lost her child is profound. Coping with the sadness and incomprehensibility of the loss predisposes her to feelings of increased vulnerability and isolation. As the woman externalizes her internal experience of grief, she is better able to manage and deal with the situational crises that surround and emerge from the pregnancy loss. This article presents a number of creative, non-traditional approaches that can be utilized to bring about wholeness and well-being in the mother as she shares her loss story.

Abortion, Spontaneous↗