Volume 186 - Issue 8
Medical education registrars: new thoughts on old problems
Author: Fiona R Lake
Med J Aust 2007; 186 (8): 431-432. || doi: 10.5694/j.1326-5377.2007.tb00988.x
Published online: 16 April 2007
Published online: 16 April 2007
In reply: A teaching registrar position is a great idea. It could foster development of knowledge and skills in interested clinicians, and perhaps higher degrees in learning and teaching, as well as serving as the start of a career pathway.1 The United Kingdom allows specialist trainees to take a year out to develop skills in education or research. Here, however, it is doomed to fail, unless there is a receptive environment for these registrars to work in or a career path that is attractive.
What kind of educational environment is needed? We need leaders with vision, knowledge, new ideas and resources to lead the development of programs and assessment. We need teachers whose main focus is to teach and implement programs. And we need to support all clinicians to continue to supervise and teach. Not all these roles need to be performed by a medical practitioner.2 Without all of this, someone who is “interested in teaching” may be burdened with an unsustainable level of teaching and administration.
Better integration at a local level across undergraduate and prevocational training3 (not to mention linking with other professional groups) and a culture of teaching are needed. Importantly, we need coherent and visionary leadership at national and state levels to underpin these endeavours.3,4
References
- Gruppen LD, Simpson D, Searle NS, et al. Educational fellowship programs: common themes and overarching issues. Acad Med 2006; 81: 990-994.
- Vallis J, Hesketh A, Macpherson S. Pre-registration house officer training: a role for nurses in the new Foundation Programme? Med Educ 2004; 38: 708-716. 0_i1091793
- McGrath BP, Graham IS, Crotty BJ, Jolly BC. Lack of integration of medical education in Australia: the need for change. Med J Aust 2006; 184: 346-348. 0_i1091796
- Dowton SB, Stokes M-L, Rawstron EJ, et al. Postgraduate medical education: rethinking and integrating a complex landscape. Med J Aust 2005; 182: 177-180. 0_i1091799