“If you don’t evaluate, you stagnate”

Coming from London it’s a well versed ruse in a social setting, as an ice-breaker, to mention one’s engagement with public transport.

I got ready to travel to Cardiff by getting up at 5.30 a.m. and then spent the journey into London Paddington reading the Independent. It was reporting on the latest information concerning the travails of the railway industry, as it tries to deliver on its promised targets. The front page was splendid, surely an award winner. I absorbed the account and arrived in London Paddington at 6.45 to catch the 7 a.m. train.

As I purchased my ticket, the official informed me that no trains were leaving Paddington that morning as there had been a points failure, and there was going to be a possible delay of between ½ and one hour.

Like many a commuter before me, I ran a quick appraisal/assessment in my head of other methods that would serve me to get to Cardiff by 10 a.m. and came up with very few.

However the information available suggested that potential passengers should wait for further announcements, which I decided to do, crossing my fingers and saying a few prayers. I noticed after 5-10 minutes that someone, whom I knew was going to Cardiff, was boarding a train on Platform 3 and I immediately jumped aboard, whereupon the train departed at 7.20 with an announcement that this was the delayed 7 a.m. to Cardiff. I breathed a sigh of relief.

However, the spectacular surroundings that our hosts in Wales had picked for us, Victorian Government buildings in the middle of Cardiff, soon cleared any lingering travelling concerns.

We began our meeting a little later than advertised, as a previously circulated draft of the programme of the day, 4 months old, had somehow escaped from the electronic ether and led some people to think that the meeting was due to begin at 11 a.m. and finish at 3 p.m. The perils of email!

Education and Training
The topic for our Study Day this year was the education and training of the specialist in geriatric medicine. The day was introduced by our President, Prof Bob Stout.

The morning session was begun by Dr Kit Byatt, Consultant in Age Care in Herefordshire, previously of Kings Lynn. He covered the issues of appraisal and mentorship. He proved yet again that it is always worthwhile, with an audience interested in education, to tease out the meanings that we may have around distinguishing differences between assessment and appraisal. These issues are often muddled in the medical arena.

Kit then went on to discuss the value of mentorship, which again has long been used in the business area, and is now getting a lease in the medical world.

It appears to be of value to senior SpRs and new consultants and indeed, the NHS is running a pilot scheme for mentorship for newly qualified GP’s and consultants as we speak.

Following Kit, was Dr James Wilkinson, attending on behalf of the Royal College of Physicians. James is a Cardiology SpR in North East Thames and currently is on a sabbatical, working as an Educational Research Fellow at the RCP in London. His topic was on assessment and gave us a very up to the minute review of the College’s pilot study into new assessment methods for SpRs. This pilot is currently running and due to end in September 2003, and has basically three arms, namely that of the Mini-Cex, DOPS - Direct Observation of Procedure, and 360° Appraisal (we see the assessment and appraisal boundaries blurring). This is a very important piece of work and will clearly influence the thoughts of the PMETB as it begins to operate later in the year.

Intra-professional teaching
Before lunch Ms Liz Stubbings, Educationalist at the University of Greenwich and Queen Mary’s Hospital Sidcup, gave us an authoritative talk on the principles, philosophy and successes of intra-professional education, which is currently reaching prominence in both the health and social care field in the UK. This was an up-to-date review of a fascinating topic and we eagerly await the evidence base and research which will support its success or otherwise.

First after lunch was Dr Steve Allen, Consultant in Geriatric and General Medicine in Bournemouth since 1986. Steve, of course, is the Chair of the BGS Training Committee. His brief was to cover the agencies and personnel who deliver and oversee medical specialist education. Without blinking or pausing for breath, Steve was able to give an erudite run through all the various bodies who oversee the training and education of the modern specialist. This is an ever evolving field and extremely difficult to keep up with, even in terms of the acronyms alone. However Steve had no trouble explaining the issues to the audience and indeed, overlaid his presentation with some personal views based on his experiences. He spoke of the potential change that PMETB may bring, which may almost go un-noticed initially, at grass roots level.

Following Dr Allen, Dr Zoe-Jane Playdon, who is Head of the Education Department at the Kent Surrey and Sussex Department of Post-graduate Medical and Dental Education, spoke on the philosophies and practicalities which underpin the education of the modern specialist.

Zoe-Jane has a background in both pure education as well as in industry, commerce and human resource issues.

She outlined some of the philosophies underpinning the current systems that play in medical education in the UK, and particularly outlined her talk with the Kent, Surrey and Sussex Deaneries Consultant Development Programme based on certification, diploma achievement or indeed, Masters achievement.

Zoe-Jane based her presentation on evaluation of 1000 Consultants now put through this programme in South East England.

She delivered a particularly interesting view on the notion of competency based assessment and emphasised throughout the very special difference between a training and educational process.

Her talk particularly illustrated the many differing approaches that Deaneries in particular are taking in the UK in terms of “training the trainers”.

IT changes everything
Our afternoon finished then with a splendid presentation by Dr Jeanette Murphy from CHIME, Senior Lecturer in Health Informatics at the Royal Free University College Medical School London.

Jeanette gave a splendidly spirited presentation with the use of over 70 slides, breaking all the rules, but getting through them all at a rapid but informative pace. She indicated how the rapid and ever changing field of IT would radically alter both the delivery of clinical care and the education of the future specialists, and she illustrated her talk liberally with the vast resources now available on the Internet to support self-directed learning for the emerging Specialist, much of it now highly peer reviewed and authoritative.

Jeanette performed the remarkable feat of finishing at exactly 3.30 p.m., as requested by the Chairman, to allow the new English Council to meet for the second time, chaired by Dr David Black which commenced only 45 seconds after the adjudged Agenda starting time - a remarkable testament to the discipline of all our speakers and the tenacity of the Chairman.

The British Geriatrics Society will publish the presentations on its website, and we hope to work up the Study Day to a publication over the next few months.

Dr Kevin Kelleher