Road-testing innovation from a student’s perspective: curriculum development through a student focussed lens

The University of Exeter Medical School (UEMS) has seen an expansion in student numbers of more than 70% since 2018. Simultaneously UEMS has increased the proportion of clinical learning placements in General Practice in response to Royal College of GP and Society of Academic Primary Care recommendations^1,2  (in contrast to national trends³). The community placement team which oversees these placements needed to innovate to maintain high quality delivery of the undergraduate GP curriculum, for significantly more students. Literature would suggest that students’ view the GP curriculum as “nice-to-know” rather than, “need-to-know”⁴. So how well are we currently delivering the content of our curriculum, and which innovations are the most effective in delivering this, from a student’s perspective?

Aims

 What did we do?

We utilised Education Incubator funding to recruit two UEMS student researchers to help us to address these goals as part of an education research project.   We applied Rolfe et al’s (2001) reflective model and prioritised an authentic student view at the heart of this project, The researchers developed and were supported to carry out an in-depth evaluation of the GP curriculum utilising the following methodology:

In order to maintain an authentic student voice, any influence from academics involved in programme delivery was removed from the data collection, analysis and delivery of the trial teaching methods. We were fortunate to have an education support advisor (professional services) with significant experience in student representation who was able to support our student researchers and limit bias from academic influence.

 

Results

Nb each teaching method was delivered twice, to different groups of students.

 

What’s next?

The findings have been applied to developments in our GP curriculum delivery and we will continue to gather student feedback on these changes. However, the greatest impact from this project was the methodology for curriculum development. We have found this approach not only helps us evaluate our current delivery but gives us insight into the student perspective of the developments we might have in mind.

For example, one of the important focus group findings was a student perception that our placements could prepare them better for consultations with a broader patient demographic. We are seeking funding for a follow-on project, utilising this methodology to look at our approach to cultural humility. We feel that this methodology would be a valuable approach to most areas of curriculum development across many of our courses.

 

References

1. Alberti H, et al. ‘Exposure of undergraduates to authentic GP teaching and subsequent entry to GP training: a quantitative study of UK medical schools’. British Journal of General Practice 2017; 67 (657): e248-e252. DOI: 10.3399/bjgp17X689881
2. Harding A, et al. Teaching general practice Guiding principles for undergraduate general practice curricula in UK medical schools (2018). https://sapc.ac.uk/sites/default/files/rcgp-curriculum-guidance-oct-2018.pdf
3. Cottrell E et al. ‘Revealing the reality of undergraduate GP teaching in UK medical curricula: a cross-sectional questionnaire study’. British Journal of General Practice 2020; 70 (698): e644-e650. DOI: 10.3399/bjgp20X712325
4. Pols, D.H.J., Kamps, A., Runhaar, J. et al. Medical students’ perception of general practice: a cross-sectional survey. BMC Med Educ 23, 103 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-023-04064-z

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