RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 An evaluation of a student led career profiling project to support the exploration of a career in general practice and other specialties.
JF BJGP Open
JO BJGP Open
FD Royal College of General Practitioners
SP BJGPO.2022.0002
DO 10.3399/BJGPO.2022.0002
A1 Gyekye-Mensah, Hannah
A1 Watkins, Arabella
A1 Wenden, Joseph
A1 Horn, Imogen
A1 Beardwood, Jemimah
A1 Jones, Melvyn
A1 Metters, Emma
YR 2022
UL http://bjgpopen.org/content/early/2022/05/18/BJGPO.2022.0002.abstract
AB Background Choosing medical careers is complex but the undergraduate period is formative. St. George’s University of London (SGUL) students called for greater careers information.Aim To develop & evaluate students’ careers resources.Design & Setting A quality improvement student staff project at SGUL.Method A “Plan, Do, Study, Act” (PDSA) cycle was completed. For the “Plan” element we surveyed students’ career intentions and information preferences. For the “Do” element, video interviews with clinicians and infographic posters were produced and published on SGUL’s virtual learning environment. For the “Study” element, feedback questionnaires were thematically analysed using Kirkpatrick’s framework. For the “Act” element the model was rolled out across SGUL programmes.Results (Plan) 79 students ranked interest in specialties, with GP second most popular. Students were unconfident how to pursue careers and wanted more information. (Do) 13 careers videos & infographics were created for 10 specialties. The (Study) questionnaire showed changes across 3 of Kirkpatrick’s levels. Level 1 (Response) students found resources helpful & accessible. Level 2 (Learning) students reported increased understanding of careers. Level 3 (Transfer) students planned using checklists and made career comparisons by specialty. Level 4 (Results) students’ career choices were not demonstrated but there were tentative proxy measures such as copying and modelling career routes and choices. (Act) involved rolling out and regularly updating resources.Conclusion This PDSA model enabled development of resources by students mapped to students’ needs. We demonstrated changes in relation to students’ response, learning and transfer, with tentative suggestions of impact on career choice.