Glamorgan Blogs

Day 2 has just ended! It’s been a very busy day and the feedback has been really excellent. Many of the people have spoken highly of the management of the conference (and this is not just a sycophantic rant) and the events we’ve tabled here. I have been really struck by how determined delegates have been in exploring new teaching/learning models and frameworks to support this amazing technology. Of course people have had the opportunity to practice key skills and they have explored METIMan, which was unveiled at Glamorgan.

Day 2 got off to a great start with Kevin Davies and colleagues from the British Army demonstrating – via a short, but very realistic and well-produced film – iStan with (1) a gunshot wound (2) an blown off lower leg in field exercises. We were shown how medical staff apply care and attention in the field, in a field hospital and in a theatre. The moulage techniques and wound simulations were very realistic but, I think what struck me most was the importance of visual anthropology and video replay. The film was segmented into small, meaningful, segments – and at the end of each segment delegates were invited to use an audience response system (in this case TurningPoint) to vote on the appropriate procedure/medical response. I was struck by the meaningful debate that could be engendered by (1) using the physical simulation and (2) by the video segments. As Kevin pointed out, these discussions and critical reflections are important for ensuring a conceptual as well as a technical grasp of the problems.

I went to Dr. Keith Weeks’ presentation on cognitive apprenticeship and his great keynote address – “Veni, Vidi, Duci: A Roadmap to Competence” (Duci – by the way, stands for ‘I calculated’). In the former presentation, Keith gave an account of how it was important to develop an educational framework as we embed our high-fidelity clinical simulations – and work towards the new 2011 curriculum. The cognitive apprenticeship model (modelling, coaching, scaffolding, articulation, reflection and exploration) is a means by which learners’ (or novices) movement towards expert practice (via advanced beginner, competent and proficient stages) can be ‘short-circuited’. Keith’s keynote was a social constructivist perspective on the problems associated with dosage calculations. It was underlined that nurses tended to fall down when it came to conceptual competence, rather than calculating or technical competence. Keith and Norman described the Authentic World software, applied in a clinical simulation setting, as a means by which the conceptual comptence can be improved. (I think everyone enjoyed the Abbott and Costello sketch!)

I’m sorry if these are very short summaries of the key papers during the conference – I understand METI will be putting the presentations up on their web site (in about a couple of weeks) – I’ll alert colleagues when this has been done. The next conference – in June 2010 – will be held at the University of Huddersfield – time to get started on those abstracts!

(This has been a really excellent two days – the conference has run really smoothly and there has been top quality debate and discussion – my complements to all staff – including technical, catering and other support personnel – who have made this happen!)

Virendra Mistry