The fate of health professions education as a profession: a road less travelled.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the views of academics about the identity of Health Professions Education as a discipline, its fate and sustainability as a profession. METHODS: The qualitative exploratory study was conducted from February to July 2021 after approval from the ethics review committee of Islamic International Medical College, Riphah International University, Rawalpindi, Pakistan, and comprised both fulltime and part-time health professions educationists of either gender teaching in different institutions of seven cities of Pakistan; Taxila, Kamrah, Rawalpindi, Peshawar, Lahore, Multan and Karachi. Using Professional Identity theory, data was collected through semi-structured one-on-one interviews which were conducted online. The interviews were transcribed verbatim, coded and thematically analysed. RESULTS: Of the 14 participants, 7(50%) had qualifications and experience of other specialities as well, while 7(50%) were pure health professions educationists. Overall, 5(35%) subjects were from Rawalpindi, 3(21%) were serving in multiple cities including Peshawer, 2(14%) were from Taxilla and 1(7.5%) each was from Lahore, Karachi, Kamrah and Multan. Accumulated data led to 31 codes with 3 themes and 15 sub-themes. The main themes were identity of health professions education as a discipline, its fate and sustainability. CONCLUSIONS: Health professions education has established its identity as a discipline in Pakistan, with independent, fully functioning departments in medical and dental colleges across the country.

Clinical biochemistry teaching: use of peer debriefing by Pendleton's rule as an instructional tool.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the effectiveness of peer debriefing in practical sessions of undergraduate medical students in Pakistan. METHODS: The cross-sectional quasi-experimental study was conducted from November 2016 to October 2018 at Shifa College of Medicine, Islamabad, Pakistan, and comprised second year medical students who were randomly divided into two groups. Group A was delivered skill sessions of Nutrition and Metabolism module through facilitator-led demonstration, while Group B was delivered skill sessions through peer debriefing using Pendleton's method. All the students were assessed in formative integrated practical exam. A focus group discussion followed by interviews was subsequently arranged for recording the perception of students regarding the effectiveness of peer debriefing as an instructional tool for skill sessions. Data was analysed using SPSS 21. RESULTS: Of the 84 subjects, 39(46.4%) were in Group A and 45(53.6%) were in Group B. Group B results were statistically significant for total cumulative scores and scores for the station of calculating body mass index (p<0.05). No significant difference was found in terms of general physical exam and counselling (p>0.05). Thematic analysis showed that students found the process of peer debriefing as fun, more interactive, time-consuming yet organized and less stressful. Students considered peer debriefing as an effective tool for learning skill sessions. CONCLUSIONS: Peer debriefing approach can be a useful instructional strategy to deliver skill sessions. It increases students' participation and thus effectively promotes learning.