Session Learning Outcomes Day 1

Creating a virtual global classroom - Helen Harty

1. Describe global classrooms within the context of PA education

2. Outline the process of developing & implementing a global classroom

3. Discuss student-centered strengths and challenges of global classrooms

4. Review the benefits and obstacles of global classrooms from a faculty perspective

5. Design and discuss potential global classroom ideas (collaborative activity for session participants)

OSCE Practicalities - Philippa Guppy & Lisa Wolff

1. Understand the importance of standardisation and how to standardise across OSCE stations including an appreciation of station templates.  

2.  Understand the key elements of quality assurance.  

3. Understand the advantages and disadvantages of different standard setting processes including Angoff and borderline regression. 

4. See an example of an OSCE bank and how to use it for your programme.

The Use of AI for SBA question writing - Claire Darling-Pomranz

Gain a general awareness of AI and consider some of the implications in the education setting. 

Understand how AI may be used in a safe and productive way (by staff and students) specifically in the generation of SBA questions for exams. 

Practice using AI to form SBA questions with guidance on how to troubleshoot some of the common issues that arise. 

Managing diversity and inclusive teaching through integrated evidence-based group discussions, Clinical Reasoning development and awareness of the wider cultural and holistic patient perspectives - Oluyinka Idowu

Making colleagues aware of issues with BAME PA students in some areas of learning

To help colleagues identify potential issues within the learning, teaching and assessment of BAME students in PA education

To present possible academic solutions to address the BAME attainment gap in the National exams for PA students.

Teaching writing techniques for reflective practice - Justine Tomlinson & Matt Hardy

1. Identify the challenges that PA students face when writing reflections

2. Learn approaches for teaching and assessing reflective writing skills

3. Be able to scaffold reflective writing for PA students 

Triggered, trauma and tolerance: building realistic resilience in PA students - Kate Bascombe & Dr Nikki Dearnley

Discuss the interplay between trauma, triggering and expected levels of tolerance for PA students.

Explore how this impacts the behaviour we expect from PA students.

Provide a space for delegates to develop some actions in relation to their own curriculum and learning environment to best support their students

Modernising breaking bad news teaching for physician associate students - Lisa Wolff & Philippa Guppy

1. Recognise importance of advanced communication skills teaching for PA students including breaking bad news. 

2. Consider what constitutes appropriate breaking bad news scenarios for physician associates.   

3. Consider the role of a breaking bad news blueprint to ensure teaching covers a breadth of scenarios.  

4. See an example of how to run breaking bad news communication skills sessions.

“Under pressure and on reflection”: a mixed methods study to explore the process of clinical reasoning employed by clinical students during primary clinical assessments. - James Gray

Understanding how students think in assessments has implications for how we teach the "doing" of clinical care as well as the "knowing". If assessment drives learning behaviours in assessment can be expected to drive behaviours in learning and we have to adapt to this as well as support students developing a reasoning "toolbox" to aim to give them the best chance to be successful clinicians.

This presentation will cover:

• The mixed methods approach taken including question generation via nominal group technique

• The qualitative outcomes (including comparative stats between medics and PAs)

• The key conclusions including a reasoning concept framework generated

Hold The Bleep: Can prioritisation skills in final year Physician Associate students be improved via simulation based teaching? - Abby Chisholm

A small scale simulation, called Hold the Bleep, was designed at the University of Leeds and is currently part of the training our second year Physician Associate students receive prior to graduation.  Research was undertaken with the aim of evaluating whether the session was successful in improving students’ prioritisation skills. The conference presentation will aim to cover:

• The initial reasoning behind the creation and implementation of Hold the Bleep

• A brief description of the simulation itself including learning outcomes, setup, staff and time requirements 

• An outline of the research conducted in 2023

• The results of the research including examples of students feedback

• Our plans for future versions of Hold the Bleep 

Sustaining Peer Connections in a Hybrid Learning Model - Lisa Alexander

1. Understand the importance of peer connections in a hybrid learning environment.

2. Identify challenges and barriers to sustaining peer connections in a hybrid learning model.

3. Explore effective strategies for fostering peer interactions in both virtual and in-person settings.

4. Learn how to leverage technology tools and platforms to facilitate meaningful peer connections.

5. Develop communication skills necessary for effective collaboration and cooperation among peers in a hybrid learning environment.

6. Apply learned concepts and strategies to create a plan for enhancing peer interactions within one's own learning or teaching environment.

7. Collaborate with peers to brainstorm creative solutions to common challenges in maintaining peer connections in a hybrid learning model.

AI on the Line: Telephone consultation training through clinical simulations – A feasibility study. - Chantal Simon

To introduce the concept of using artificial intelligence for telephone consultation training

Behind the Mask: The Professional Identity of PAs. - Bella Penny

To explore the existing literature around PA identity

To explore how we as educators could better support our students in forming their professional identity 

To explore facilitating factors and barriers to the professional identity of PAs (e.g. negative attitudes, regulation and government agendas, clinical exposure, RESILIENCE, role models etc)

To explore how we can inspire resilience amongst PA students 

To reflect on our own identities as educators/PAs and our unconscious biases?

Preparation for practice: Facilitating the transition from student to Physician Associate - Rebecca Horne

To explore the effectiveness of a scenario-based preparation for practise session on improving confidence of Physician Associate students.

To highlight the importance of facilitating clinical debrief time following challenging consultations.

Exploring attitudes towards interprofessional teams from the perspectives of graduate entry medical students and physician associate students.-Pauline Joyce

1. Discuss the challenges of IPL across healthcare professions

2. Evaluate the attitudes of PA and medical students towards each other's role

3. Explore how much each group knew about the other's role prior to the IPL sessions.

How might Physician Associates help (or not) address the workforce crisis in the NHS? – the ROADMAP study - Attakrit Leckcivilize

Our NIHR funded project aims to generate the knowledge and approaches that will help improve national and local NHS workforce planning for PA. We would like to introduce the project and invite PA training programmes to become collaborators in this project.