CMHSE research projects
The patient’s hospital journey – a hospital-stay diary study
Our aim is to record good and bad aspects of the hospital journey, in the
patient’s own voice, in hospital-stay diaries, for a group of surgical patients
from admission to discharge. Capturing patients’ stories in diaries should give
us insight into patients’ perspective on their care, allow us to target good
aspects of ward systems for commendation and bad aspects of ward systems for
recommended change.
Principal Investigator:
Craig Webster
Multi-disciplinary simulation training in the management of the surgical patient
Simulation has been used extensively by the different professional groups. In
anaesthesia, computerised full body manikins can realistically simulate an
anaesthetised patient, enabling anaesthetists to learn how to manage complex,
rare or life-threatening events, and to develop skills in teamwork and
communication. Surgeons on the whole have focused on the acquisition of
technical skills. What is striking about these simulation initiatives is that
they tend to occur within professional silos, and do little to overcome the
interprofessional boundaries between surgeons, anaesthetists, and nurses and may
in fact reinforce stereotypes. Therefore this project will develop and validate
a genuinely multidisciplinary simulated learning environment to improve team
decision-making, communication and skills as well as develop capabilities in
collaborative practice.
Principal Investigator: Jennifer Weller
The validity of simulation-based training and assessment in anaesthesia
The aim of this study is to provide evidence for the validity of the simulator as
a tool for training and assessing anaesthetists. Volunteer anaesthesia teams are
being videotaped in the operating theatre and simulated theatre, in order to compare
the two contexts looking for similarities and differences in behaviour relevant
to anaesthesia practice. This information will help us to develop and test interventions
to improve anaesthesia training, and determine the extent to which improved performance
in the simulator following simulation training translates to improved performance
in the workplace.
Principal Investigator: Jennifer Weller
Reliability of mini-CEX in anaesthesia
There is a need to develop a feasible and reliable instrument to measure workplace
performance in anaesthesia and to build capacity among supervisors to be able to
effectively assess trainee anaesthetists, provide constructive feedback and identify
and provide remediation for poorly performing trainees. The mini-Clinical Evaluation
Exercise (mini-CEX) has been proposed as a useful instrument for workplace assessment
in medical domains outside anaesthesia and has undergone extensive evaluation in
junior doctors. It may prove to be a valuable tool for assessment of anaesthesia
trainees but requires additional validation in the context of specialist training.
This study assesses the inter-rater reliability of the mini-CEX.
Principal Investigator: Jennifer Weller
WHOQOL and Motivation to Learn Study
This is a research investigation into the fourth and fifth year medical students
with respect to their quality of life and motivation to learn. In addition to focus
group data, the World Health Organisation Quality of Life questionnaire (BREF version)
and the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire were used to glean self-report
information.
Principal Investigator: Marcus Henning
Improving pass/fail decisions around borderline grades
Pass/fail decisions for students who achieved borderline marks is one of the
major challenges examiners face when assessing high stake examinations. The
Borderline project aims to develop and validate a new statistical model that
allows pass/fail decision to be made in an objective way based on mathematical
models rather than experts’ judgment. The project lies within the educational
assessment theory and aims to expand current knowledge within the standard
setting domain.
Principal investigator:
Dr Boaz Shulruf
Research projects in collaboration with the CMHSE
DREEM
This is a study devised by the Department Of Paediatrics: Child and Youth Health.
The aim of the study is to measure fourth and fifth year students’ perceptions about
their experiences while on clinical rotation. The DREEM (Dundee Ready Education
Environment) questionnaire was adapted as the primary self-report measure and two
focus groups were conducted to gather qualitative data.
Principal Investigator: Ralph Pinnock
Tracking health professional students and graduates
A faculty wide project which commenced in 2006, this study is looking at the progression of all undergraduate
health professional students from university entry through to graduation/professional registration and beyond.
Principal Investigator: Mark Barrow
Working together: Attitudes to teamwork in early career health professionals
The purpose of this study is to explore understandings, beliefs and attitudes about professional identity in junior doctors and early career nurses, so that we may
gain insight into how tertiary providers might better prepare students to move from study to work and improve effective participation in health care teams. Interviews
and a survey have been conducted with early career doctors and nurses in the Auckland region.
Principal Investigator: Mark Barrow
Consent for teaching: Obtaining the views of caregivers and children on giving consent
to be involved in medical teaching
This study seeks to find out what makes caregivers and children give consent to be involved in medical student teaching. Interviews and surveys are being conducted with children who are
either inpatients or outpatients at Starship Children’s Hospital, and their caregivers. Information gleaned from this study will provide us with mechanisms or models as
to how best to overtly seek consent from parents and children in a range of clinical situations.
Principal Investigator: Ralph Pinnock
Evaluation of the Human Early Life Development (HELD) study
This study was designed to evaluate changes in the Human Early Life Development
(HELD) Study (part of MBChB Phase 1 since the inception of the programme and previously
known as the Child Development and Family Study). Students are allocated a family
with a pregnancy and follow them for 18 months through antenatal care, delivery
and early childhood development. In 2009, the materials were revised and an online
portfolio developed. This cross-sectional, dual cohort study seeks to:
- Identify student experiences of the two-year longitudinal HELD study in relation
to practical issues, data collection, data reporting and professional development
- Compare two cohorts who have had access to different support as part of the HELD
study
- Identify ways of developing and improving the HELD study from a student perspective.
Principal Investigator: Andy Wearn
