Building Reflective Spaces for Junior Doctors to Promote Ethical, Legal and Professional Learning Relating to Clinical Practice

Machin, Laura and Baker, Paul (2023) Building Reflective Spaces for Junior Doctors to Promote Ethical, Legal and Professional Learning Relating to Clinical Practice. Clinical Teacher, 20 (2). ISSN 1743-4971

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Abstract

Background: Concerns have been raised surrounding the training of Foundation Doctors on the ethical, legal and professional aspects (ELP) of clinical practice, leading to some to claim a degree of educational neglect. Foundation Doctors are junior doctors in the UK within the first two years of their medical career since graduating from medical school. Approach: Lancaster University and Health Education England North West (HEE NW) introduced a series of training materials specially created to meet the ELP training needs of Foundation Doctors, which were piloted by Foundation Schools. Evaluation: The training was delivered to Foundation Doctors in first and second year of their training either online or in person. The facilitators were clinical senior doctors, and did not have an academic qualification in ELP. Some large Foundation Schools used two training packs to provide an optional ELP day for their Foundation Doctors, whilst individual hospitals within a Foundation School used the training packs to provide training as part of their mandatory weekly training for Foundation Doctors. Feedback was gathered from Foundation Doctors and training facilitators when a training pack was piloted. Implications: Foundation Doctors were able to make links between the messages delivered in the training to their own clinical practice. Foundation Schools have incorporated the training packs into the two-year Foundation Programme, which creates the possibility for ELP training to become standardised across Foundation Schools.