Three exciting things happened this week – I hosted my first ever Journal Club on Twitter, I attended the BMA Women in Medicine event and also presented at the Geriatrics for Juniors conference in Newcastle.
All very different but all with one thing in common – bringing people together.
My feeling over the past few months is that within healthcare there has been a creeping return to silo working. Whether it’s staffing on a ward area, the rota or teaching it all feels like people are in self preservation mode. It was nice to be pulled out of that for a while and see what was going on in the wider world
I’m not sure how many of you still run journal clubs at work? They’re something that seem to have fallen out of fashion. I’ve got to be honest, in the past I didn’t like them. For those who are unfamiliar, the premise was that some unfortunate soul was nominated to present a ‘topical’ paper at a lunchtime meeting. This paper would then be dissected by the audience. It was an opportunity for scientific ‘show pony-ism’ for the statistically minded. Usually I forgot to read the paper and when I did there seemed to be far too many statistics which I didn’t understand. I learnt nothing.
Years later I have come to appreciate their value in appraising evidence which is clinically relevant to my day to day work. I am still not keen however on the traditional design of a Journal Club.
What the @GIMJClub guys have done is take the same principal – ‘have paper, now discuss….’ and refreshed the format for a wider social media audience (#genmedjc)
In the week leading up to the Journal Club the paper and its supplementary links were shared across several social media platforms. This allowed people the time and the flexibility to read it on a device of their choosing. I must admit though, I still printed it off and sat with a pink highlighter pen – old habits!
The discussion was fast paced and hugely interesting. I learned loads! The bonus part was it allowed people from all over the UK to take part from the comfort of their own home.
Using Storify, I was able to capture the main points reflecting a happy couple of hours of educational community.
https://storify.com/Sparklystar55/iqcode-journal-club
This energy followed me to the Women in Medicine BMA event a couple of days later (#BMAWomenMedicine). The workshops I found the most useful were those on Less Than Full-Time (LTFT) working. It struck me that people were somewhat left to get on with it when it came to LTFT working. As someone who has trained and currently works, correction, is paid less than full time it is a subject close to my heart. We are seeing a change in the workforce with more people choosing to work flexibly where possible.
The BMA have recognised this and have introduced the concept of ‘LTFT Champions’. An informal go-to person to ask advice on the practicalities of LTFT working and to also provide local guidance. It’s something I’m looking to introduce to Forth Valley in the coming months.
To round off the week I was asked to present at the Geriatrics for Juniors conference (#G4J17). The guys at @AEME are heroes of mine. Not only have they advanced Geriatric education they have raised the profile of the speciality a million fold.
On a cold Saturday in Newcastle ~200 mostly junior doctors attended a day of very entertaining presentations on the different facets of Geriatrics. To my mind this reflects the growing interest in our speciality, which I hope ultimately translates into more people training as Geriatricians.
What continues to impress me most about @AEME is that they not only recognised the need for a different way to deliver Geriatric teaching but they went out and did it. They also managed to attract like-minded individuals to give up their time and contribute too – whether through a Connect event, a Podcast or their newly formed Mentor network. Silo working just does not exist in their world.
Now of course you don’t have to go to these lengths to get out and talk to people. Pick up the phone, email (yes, I said it; its still a convenient communication tool), grab a coffee together or meet up with other specialty colleagues before a lunchtime meeting. One of my colleagues is trying to do this very thing by booking an area next to the lecture theatre.
Either way just get out there, people. You’ll be amazed by what you find….
Sparklystar55 