Development and pilot testing the Family Conference Rating Scale: A tool aimed to assess interprofessional patient-centred communication and collaboration competencies.

There is a paucity of evidence-based literature on the essential communication and collaboration skills to guide health care teams in conducting and assessing their performance in the Family Conference (FC). The authors developed and collected validity evidence for a rating scale of team FC performance, the Family Conference Rating Scale (FCRS). In phase 1, essential FC communication and collaboration skills were identified through a review of existing communication tools and literature on team functioning; a draft 34-item scale was developed. In phase 2, the scale was narrowed to a 6-category, 9-point scale with descriptors of expected behaviours through an iterative process: testing of the scale on 10 FC transcripts by two experts, soliciting feedback from a focus group of seven health care providers, and testing by non-experts on 49 live FCs. In phase 3, scores on the revised scale were validated by 10 health care providers from different disciplines by rating three videos of FCs of variable quality. Raters were able to detect inter-video variation in FC quality. The reliability of the FCRS was 0.95 and the inter-rater reliability, 0.68. The FCRS may enhance the ability of health professions educators to teach and assess interprofessional patient-centred communication and collaboration competencies.

From cure to care: assessing the ethical and professional learning needs of medical learners in a care-based facility.

The purpose of this study was to assess the ethical and professional learning needs of medical trainees on clinical placements at a care-based facility, as they shifted from acute care to care-based philosophy. Using qualitative data analysis and grounded theory techniques, 12 medical learners and five clinical supervisors were interviewed. Five themes emerged as learning needs: the holistic approach to care, withdrawal of treatment and withholding investigations, the collaborative team model, violations to patient autonomy, Do Not Resuscitate and advance directives issues. The results illustrate the importance of preparing medical learners for a philosophical shift in their approach to patient care, as they move from the more cure-based approach of acute care to the care model of care-based facilities.

A national clinician-educator program: a model of an effective community of practice.

BACKGROUND: The increasing complexity of medical training often requires faculty members with educational expertise to address issues of curriculum design, instructional methods, assessment, program evaluation, faculty development, and educational scholarship, among others. DISCUSSION: In 2007, The Royal College of Physicians & Surgeons of Canada responded to this need by establishing the first national clinician-educator program. We define a clinician-educator and describe the development of the program. Adopting a construct from the business community, we use a community of practice framework to describe the benefits (with examples) of this program and challenges in developing it. The benefits of the clinician-educator program include: improved educational problem solving, recognition of educational needs and development of new projects, enhanced personal educational expertise, maintenance of professional satisfaction and retention of group members, a positive influence within the Royal College, and a positive influence within other Canadian academic institutions. SUMMARY: Our described experience of a social reorganization - a community of practice - suggests that the organizational and educational benefits of a national clinician-educator program are not theoretical, but real.