The view from here
Perspective from a student problem-based learning facilitator Lucy Homer, Department of Medicine, University of Liverpool Medical School, Liverpool, UK
W
hen I first walked into the room of expectant first-year medical students I was overcome with fear. A fear that I wouldn’t be able to guide them, that they would see me for what I was: a scared (slightly) older medical student with no real grounding in medical education. Yes, I have come through 4 years of problem-based learning (PBL) as a student and passed my finals, but this does not prepare you for being the facilitator. It was not something that my medical school career had prepared me for thus far. Although I had read extensively about PBL facilitation and attended a training session, its implementation was something completely different. Just because the evidence indicates one thing, would it work for me
too? Before I go much further I cannot claim that I was alone. I was privileged enough to have the support of a senior academic and staff mentor with extensive experience in facilitation, and without this I think that I would not have been able to successfully develop personally and as a facilitator. His guidance and continued support were unfaltering and always made me believe that I could do it. In those first sessions I began to realise how much more work there was than I had appreciated as a student. It requires constant concentration and a subset of skills that I did not even know about. As a student you talk about what you know well and let the rest of the group pick up the other objectives. As a facilitator, I had to follow all
objectives, encourage equal contribution and question students to unearth their knowledge. It is by no means as easy as I had thought. And there was more: evaluating students’ contributions. When you are being reviewed as a student it is easy to forget that the evaluator may not be finding it easy either. With the right support it was possible to offer advice and guidance to help the students, but I could not have done it alone.
With the right support it was possible to offer advice and guidance to help the students
Speaking with other student facilitators there are those that do it purely for their CV, but there are others that do it to help younger students, to reassure them that everything will be all right, and that they can and will get through medical school. PBL
© 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. THE CLINICAL TEACHER 2014; 11: 319–320 319
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I have learned more about myself as a facilitator and a learner than I ever thought possible
facilitation for me has been an exciting, albeit nerve-wracking at times, voyage of discovery. I have learned more about myself as a facilitator and a learner than I ever thought possible. It has made me strive to be a better educator, communicator and role model for the future of our health service. I am a firm believer in the effectiveness of PBL as a learning process, and have taken so much from the process as a student: I could not think of a better way to give back to my medical school and to, hopefully,
help inspire the next generation of clinical educators. With good support, many more students may
thrive and learn as PBL facilitators.
Corresponding author’s contact details: Lucy Homer, University Of Liverpool, Faculty of Medicine, Ashton Street, Liverpool, L69 3GE, UK. E-mail: [email protected]
Funding: Not applicable. Conflict of interest: None to declare. Ethical approval: Not applicable. doi: 10.1111/tct.12130
320 © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. THE CLINICAL TEACHER 2014; 11: 319–320
tct_12130.indd 320
5/23/2014 3:12:12 PM
Perspective from a student problem-based learning facilitator Lucy Homer, Department of Medicine, University of Liverpool Medical School, Liverpool, UK
W
hen I first walked into the room of expectant first-year medical students I was overcome with fear. A fear that I wouldn’t be able to guide them, that they would see me for what I was: a scared (slightly) older medical student with no real grounding in medical education. Yes, I have come through 4 years of problem-based learning (PBL) as a student and passed my finals, but this does not prepare you for being the facilitator. It was not something that my medical school career had prepared me for thus far. Although I had read extensively about PBL facilitation and attended a training session, its implementation was something completely different. Just because the evidence indicates one thing, would it work for me
too? Before I go much further I cannot claim that I was alone. I was privileged enough to have the support of a senior academic and staff mentor with extensive experience in facilitation, and without this I think that I would not have been able to successfully develop personally and as a facilitator. His guidance and continued support were unfaltering and always made me believe that I could do it. In those first sessions I began to realise how much more work there was than I had appreciated as a student. It requires constant concentration and a subset of skills that I did not even know about. As a student you talk about what you know well and let the rest of the group pick up the other objectives. As a facilitator, I had to follow all
objectives, encourage equal contribution and question students to unearth their knowledge. It is by no means as easy as I had thought. And there was more: evaluating students’ contributions. When you are being reviewed as a student it is easy to forget that the evaluator may not be finding it easy either. With the right support it was possible to offer advice and guidance to help the students, but I could not have done it alone.
With the right support it was possible to offer advice and guidance to help the students
Speaking with other student facilitators there are those that do it purely for their CV, but there are others that do it to help younger students, to reassure them that everything will be all right, and that they can and will get through medical school. PBL
© 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. THE CLINICAL TEACHER 2014; 11: 319–320 319
tct_12130.indd 319
5/23/2014 3:12:12 PM
I have learned more about myself as a facilitator and a learner than I ever thought possible
facilitation for me has been an exciting, albeit nerve-wracking at times, voyage of discovery. I have learned more about myself as a facilitator and a learner than I ever thought possible. It has made me strive to be a better educator, communicator and role model for the future of our health service. I am a firm believer in the effectiveness of PBL as a learning process, and have taken so much from the process as a student: I could not think of a better way to give back to my medical school and to, hopefully,
help inspire the next generation of clinical educators. With good support, many more students may
thrive and learn as PBL facilitators.
Corresponding author’s contact details: Lucy Homer, University Of Liverpool, Faculty of Medicine, Ashton Street, Liverpool, L69 3GE, UK. E-mail: [email protected]
Funding: Not applicable. Conflict of interest: None to declare. Ethical approval: Not applicable. doi: 10.1111/tct.12130
320 © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. THE CLINICAL TEACHER 2014; 11: 319–320
tct_12130.indd 320
5/23/2014 3:12:12 PM
