Postgraduate study

Name: Hannah Wakefield

Title: The experiences of South Asian medical students with dyslexia in the United Kingdom.

Award: PhD

Funder: Self-funded

Supervisors: Dr Paul Crampton, Dr Millie Kehoe, Dr Amaya Ellawala

Summary

A medical degree is arguably one of the most prestigious university degrees. It represents the start of a stimulating journey of learning and training, which continues for the duration of a whole medical career. The route, however is long and arduous requiring the overcoming of many hurdles. This process is challenging for all students but more so for some subsets of students who may be more disadvantaged. Recent attention by Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) has tried to address potential barriers to learning, such as through widening participation programmes to facilitate admissions. However, relatively less has addressed the learning characteristics of the students themselves, such as those with Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLDs) e.g. dyslexia. This is a qualitative study using an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis approach.

Title: Medicines review and deprescribing teaching in undergraduate medical education; a realist synthesis informed by literature review, expert interviews and medical student debriefing.

Award: MD

Funder: Hull-York Medical School

Supervisors: Dr Paul Crampton, Professor Matt Morgan, Professor David Hepburn

Summary of study: Richard's MD aims to produce a series of evidence-based practical recommendations for the development of a medicines review/optimisation/deprescribing theme in undergraduate medical education. This will be achieved by a realist synthesis informed by literature review, expert interviews and medical student workshops.

Medicines review, optimisation and deprescribing skills are key in the high-quality care of all patients, but especially those living with comorbidity and polypharmacy. The development of such skills has become an educational imperative and research is needed into how to design these educational interventions.

Title: What is the impact of, and interplay between, social & mainstream media on global public health communication during a pandemic?

Funder: Hull York Medical School

This project seeks to explore what impact the interplay between social and mainstream media has on the mass communication of public health messaging during a pandemic. What elements help a public health response and what elements hinder it. What are the salient points of what went well? What aspects need further consideration and refinement? It is hoped that this thesis will contribute to the literature, so that when it comes to communicating the public health issues pertaining to the next pandemic, healthcare professionals will be in a better place to utilise the tools available for mass communication and members of the public will be in a better position to comprehend, assimilate and apply such information so they can make decisions that are in their best interests.

Title: Modelling the relationship between UCAT scores and postgraduate performance and specialty choice: a doctoral programme of psychometric epidemiology

Funder: The University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT) Board

One of the original aims of introducing the UCAT was to help selectors choose individuals most likely to succeed in a clinical career. Performance in “high-fidelity” postgraduate clinical exams are an accessible proxy for actual practice. The predictive validity of the situational judgement test (SJT) component of the UCAT can now be evaluated in this respect. Given the workforce shortages being experienced by key specialties it is also important to consider a novel “pareto-optimal” approach. This models optimal trade-offs between postgraduate pass and recruitment rates, as well as overall fill rates for specialty training. In this project, using data from the UK Medical Education Database (UKMED) a series of models will be developed and tested to understand how the UCAT can be best used to select tomorrow’s doctors. The findings will be crucial to understanding the role of the UCAT in relation to “reverse engineering” medical selection. This maps selection processes to workforce requirements for effective healthcare delivery.