Year 2 - Medicine in Society - Student Handbook 2019/20

Preparing to meet/shadow a health care professional

During your MedSoc2 placement you will have the opportunity to meet and shadow other members of the multidisciplinary team providing care to your patient/s.  This experience will broaden your knowledge of the doctor’s role within the team, and help you to achieve the MEDSOC learning objective “explain the roles played by different members of the MDT and how the patient’s care is optimized by effective team working”. 

Another important aspect of this experience is to develop your skills in interprofessional communication.   One of the GMC requirements for new graduates is to be able to communicate clearly, sensitively and effectively with colleagues from the medical and other professions (GMC 2009, Tomorrow’s Doctors Outcome 15a).  Developing your skills in quickly establishing a professional rapport with other members of the MDT will help you to become an effective member of the interprofessional teams you will meet in your future clinical role.

To prepare for each shadowing experience:

i)                   Reflect on what you already know about the role of the professional you will be shadowing, and what you would like to find out.  For example, you might consider finding out about their training, professional regulation, work and shift patterns, range of patients/conditions worked with, patient referral routes, screening and assessment processes, interventions carried out, and how they interface with the MDT.  Consider also whether you hold any preconceptions about the type of person who is a member of that profession(professional stereotypes), and what these preconceptions are based upon.

Identify three questions about this profession that you want to answer through this shadowing experience, and write them down.

ii)                 Consider what the professional needs to know about you and your learning needs prior to the shadowing experience, and how best to communicate this with them in a professional manner.

iii)               Contact the professional in advance (or on the day if the shadowing has already been set up for you) to introduce yourself and negotiate the shadowing arrangement.  You should take account of the professional’s workload and work patterns, and be prepared to be flexible.

Assessment

Following each shadowing experience you should complete a Multi-disciplinary Team Shadowing Report (a proforma is provided for this).

a)     At the end of each 6 day placement you must show one shadowing report to your placement supervisor

b)     You must upload two multi-disciplinary Team Shadowing Reports to QM+  during the year, one at the end of yoru first 6 day placement, the second at the end of the 2nd placement .

If you have anyy queries about this  interprofessional activity please contact Dr Celia Woolf, Senior Lecturer in IPE - c.a.woolf@qmul.ac.uk

Failure to complete either of these requirements will be considered a matter of professionalism and may incur professionalism points.