Education research cultures

Research cultures and how they differ between medicine and medical education

Dr Rola AjjawiCentre for Medical Education

*Creating enabling research cultures (for clinicians) in medical education

Dr Rola AjjawiCentre for Medical Education

My research journey

CME research structures

Objectives

1. Explore your experiences and journeys transitioning into medical education research

2. Understand the differences between medical/clinical and medical education research cultures

3. Analyse the characteristics of ‘good’ research cultures in medical education and barriers to this

4. Discuss your recommendation for helping develop medical education researchers

Or (perhaps) worse…

Quality Enthusiastic faculty who lack theoretical and

methodological background in social sciences and education

(Albert 2007; Shea et al 2004)

Activity 1: Your research journeys?1. Tell your buddy about your research journey2. Consider your ‘transition’ into medical education

research Why did you do it?What were you anxious about?What surprised you? What scared you? What comforted you?

Group feedback – transitions into medical education research

What is organisational culture?

Culture manifests on three levels ranging from easily observable artefacts, to espoused beliefs and values, to the underlying assumptions that are unconsciously taken for granted by organisational members (O’Brien 2013)

Definition of research cultures

In the context of research cultures, consider:How work gets completed in

the organisationWhat knowledge is valuedCreation of settings or

contexts that bring people together for interaction

(Wilkes & Jackson 2013)

Activity 2: characteristics of research cultures Med vs MedEd1. Consider the 3 consideration outlined before in the

context of medical research and medical education research.

2. What are the similarities (if any)?3. What are the differences (if any)?

Group feedback – medicine vs medical education

Definition of enabling research culture

Enabling research culture involves an organisation constructing an environment that enables and supports creative work to generate new knowledge and that provides researchers with opportunities to interact and grow(Wilkes & Jackson 2013)

Characteristics of enabling RCsResearch productivity (or a productive environment

for research)Positive collegial relationshipsInclusivity and non-competitivenessEffective research processes and training(Wilkes & Jackson 2013)

Activity 3: characteristic of RCs Discuss with your peer your enabling and less

enabling research experiences.Agree on three characteristics of an enabling

research culture in Medical EducationWhat are the barriers to fostering these?

Group feedback – characteristics of enabling RC

Barrier #1: Problems of episteme

Constructing medical education as a social science (Monrouxe & Rees 2009)

Imperative of proof vs imperative of understanding (or emancipation?) (Regehr 2010)

Barrier #2: Theory – underused, complex and valuable“a theory is an organised, coherent, and systematic articulation of a set of issues that are communicated as a meaningful whole” (Reeves et al. 2008, p. 633).

Barrier #3: Ethics & sledgehammer

(Pugsley & Dornan 2007)

Barrier #4: Recognition & reward

Of 31 biomedical scientists: 8 receptive, 7 ambivalent and 16 unreceptive towards social sciences (Albert et al. 2008)

Activity 4: RecommendationsWhat are your top 3 recommendations for improving

research cultures in medical education for:Clinicians transitioning into medical education

researchMedical education research supervisorsOrganisations/centres

Group feedback – recommendations

Conclusions

http://www.flickr.com/photos/blumpy/325853852/

Readings Bunniss, S., & Kelly, D. R. (2010). Research paradigms

in medical education research. Medical Education, 44(4), 358-366.

Crotty, M. (1998). The Foundations of Social Research: Meaning and perspective in the Research Process. Sydney: Allen & Unwin.

Regehr, G. (2010). It’s NOT rocket science: rethinking our metaphors for research in health professions education. Medical Education, 44(1), 31-39.

References Albert, M., Laberge, S., Hodges, B. D., Regehr, G., & Lingard, L. (2008). Biomedical

scientists' perception of the social sciences in health research. Social Science & Medicine, 66(12), 2520-2531

Albert M. Research in medical education: Balancing service and science. Advances in Health Sciences Education 2007;12:103-115

Crotty M. The Foundations of Social Research. London: Sage; 1998 Hodges, B., & Kuper, A. (2012). Theory and practice in the design and conduct of

graduate medical education. Academic Medicine, 87(1), 25-33 Monrouxe LV & Rees CE (2009). Picking up the gauntlet: constructing medical education

as a social science. Medical Education, 43(3): 196-198 O’Brien, J. (2013). Conceptualizing the Research Culture in Postgraduate Medical

Education: Implications for Leading Culture Change. Journal of Medical Humanities, 1-17

Pugsley, L., & Dornan, T. (2007). Using a sledgehammer to crack a nut: clinical ethics review and medical education research projects. Medical Education, 41(8), 726-728

Regehr, G. (2010). It’s NOT rocket science: rethinking our metaphors for research in health professions education. Medical Education, 44(1), 31-39.

Reeves, S., Albert, M., Kuper, A., & Hodges, B. D. (2008). Why use theories in qualitative research? BMJ, 337.

Shea, J. A., Arnold, L., & Mann, K. V. (2004). A RIME Perspective on the Quality and Relevance of Current and Future Medical Education Research. Academic Medicine, 79(10), 931-938

Wilkes, L., & Jackson, D. (2013). Enabling research cultures in nursing: insights from a multidisciplinary group of experienced researchers. Nurse Researcher, 20(4), 28-34

Thank you!

ASME EDG travelling fellowship 2013 To everyone at CHES & to you for participating

Email: r.ajjawi@dundee.ac.ukTwitter: @r_ajjawi

http://tarynvoget.com/2010/06/01/the-genius-of-cartoonist-gary-larson/