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January 18, 2021, by mszrm4
Spotlight on Scholars – Dr Wendy Telling
This is the first of our “Spotlight on Scholars” blog posts: introducing current members of our student body and discussing what attracted them to #MedEd and the Nottingham Course.
What is your current role in medical education?
My current role is Medical Education Fellow at the University of Nottingham. This involves writing undergraduate curriculum for the new medical clinical course, due to be released in February 2022. I started this role in September 2020 and, as well as liking working remotely at home, I am enjoying working in a team that is focused on delivering enjoyable high-quality teaching for medical students. I am also a Consultant Occupational Physician, providing health and work advice to the health care workers of University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust.
Which one of the 12 roles of a teacher appeals most to you and why?
The teaching role that most appeals to me from the 12 roles of a teacher is that of role model. After over 20 years in medicine I still find the art of medicine, how we apply evidence-based medicine to each individual patient, challenging. I personally have found the best way to learn this was by observing other colleagues in action, particularly when I was learning to be a specialist in occupational medicine as our role is often to provide opinion. I also value doctors and other health care professionals observing my practice and discussing clinical reasoning with them as, I am then teaching which I enjoy and the professional is also helping me to maintain my own practice. Surely a win, win!
Tell us about one thing you’ve discovered studying on the course that you didn’t know before?
As occupational medicine is a postgraduate specialty, it isn’t that long since I completed my degree and membership exams. However, starting this course reminded me that learning doesn’t get any easier with age or previous experience! The good news is that studying again also reminded me that the process of learning is a personal one and so with this in mind I look forward to the rest of the MMedSci course.
What’s the most interesting paper you’ve come across so far in your reading?
The most interesting paper I have recently read was called “Risky business: Psychological safety and risks of learning medicine” by Bynum. Unfortunately, I found that I could either personally relate to training experiences mentioned in the paper or sadly see the system effects in doctors in my clinics. I found it refreshing to see a familiar issue viewed from a different perspective with educational solutions.
What would you like to achieve by the end of this year?
What would I like to achieve by the end of this year is a tough question to answer at this unprecedented time. However, if I narrow this down to Medical Education I would say I would most like to achieve being highly familiar with educational language and having enjoyed each module of this course.
Dr Wendy Telling MBChB Adv Dip Occ Med MFOM
Dr Telling is a Scholar on the Masters in Medical Education course at University of Nottingham, a Clinical Teaching Fellow and a Consultant in Occupational Health.
Join us on the Nottingham MedEd course: https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/pgstudy/course/taught/medical-education-mmedsci
Further reading:
Crosby, R.H.J., 2000. AMEE Guide No 20: The good teacher is more than a lecturer-the twelve roles of the teacher. Medical teacher, 22(4), pp.334-347. (Abstract online here: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/014215900409429 )
Bynum, W.E. and Haque, T.M., 2016. Risky business: psychological safety and the risks of learning medicine. Journal of graduate medical education, 8(5), pp.780-782. (online here: https://meridian.allenpress.com/jgme/article/8/5/780/34707/Risky-Business-Psychological-Safety-and-the-Risks )
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