Teaching medicine of the person to medical students during the beginning of their clerkships

Abstract

This article describes how medicine of the person is taught to 4th year medical students in Groningen, The Netherlands, as part of the teaching programme ‘Professional Development’. In that year, the students start with their clerkships. In this transitional phase from medical student to young doctor, issues of professional identity are raised. It is an intense period with feelings of uncertainty and overwhelming experiences. Therefore, parallel to the clerkships we have organised 28 meetings of 2 hours with extra time dedicated to reflection and learning. These groups consist of 10-12 students with a rotating student chair under supervision of an experienced teacher, or, “coach”. We focus on personal and professional development by reflecting on work-based experiences. In the first hour the students discuss in a structured way a critical incident experienced by one of them. Learning experiences include personal learning (as emotions), skills (as empathy development) and professional learning (discovering the profession). In the second hour the students discuss set medical-ethical dilemmas. The coach facilitates the group discussion and oversees the group dynamics. During the year, the students work on their portfolio including writing a personal development plan. In 3 individual interviews with the coach this plan is monitored. In the final interview the students are assessed by their coach on their professional development during the year. In this paper we present the results of the evaluation of this programme ‘Professional Development’ by the students and The Netherlands Association for Medical Education.