First C4ME Staff Development Day

Over a year ago, the idea of an INSET day was suggested for the Centre for Medical Education. It was part of the School of Medicine Athena SWAN application. The idea was to get EVERYBODY in the Centre together for training, networking and team building. Today saw the first INSET day and I enjoyed it!

A large part of the day was spent exploring the C4ME mission, vision and values. The first draft had been developed by the C4ME Strategy Development Team and aligned with Way Forward 2018-2013. Some of the context of the Centre was mentioned including info today about student loans, the Teaching Excellence and Student Outcomes Framework (TEF), building relationships with other Universities and Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW).

Our basic mission was outlined as educating to improve health & well being in Wales and beyond.

My notes of our vision gave me:

• Reduce inequalities
• Improve health
• Innovate
• Develop healthcare professionals

And our values as:

• Student experience
• Staff development
• Innovators – embracing & building change
• Solution focused
• Collaboration
• Use resources prudently.

Discussions, using the World Café method, identified:

• Perhaps a tension between placing students as first priority and the suggestion that most organisations have staff as the key.
• Perhaps a lack of identifying patients and the public as partners
• Some concern about about a perceived hierarchy with vision and values
• Perhaps the lack of an overt inclusion of Welsh language and culture
• A tension between producing “excellent doctors” and maintaining a more inclusive vision of “healthcare professionals”

It was interesting!

There were also a broad range of workshops – I attended one by Allan Theophanides entitled “The A-Z of Learning Technologies”  and delivered one with Dr Sam Hibbitts about responding to requests for adjustment from an EDI perspective.

As often the case, a fun part was meeting colleagues. I really enjoyed a discussion with Billy McWilliams about a Masters Programme in which students develop all their own learning objectives and a discussion with Marion McAllistair about the complete redevelopment of their MSc in Genetic and Genomic Counselling.

I used an EDI update:

• to reflect on the great hard work done delivering education to >3,000 students with diverse learning and social needs.
• to encourage us all to be kind,
• to publicise the Cardiff University Disclosure Response Procedure (internal link) and
• to emphasise self care through taking a digital break and a nice Christmas holiday.

All in all, I’m really glad I attended. Thanks to Stephen Greenwood, Caitlin, Dan and Janet who organised the day.

Next C4ME Staff Development Day on the 26th of June, 2019!

Happy Christmas.