GPs who undertake educational work are assessed and accredited by their deaneries every three to five years. As part of their application process, GP trainers and supervisors need to provide evidence of a peer review of a teaching episode.
The teaching episode could be live, that is the trainer and trainee have their tutorial in front of other trainers who mark their performance. Alternatively the peer review could be from watching a video of their teaching.
For logistical reasons, many GP trainers prefer to video a teaching episode and review it with a colleague, or at their local trainers' group or GP educators' course. The deanery expects to see evidence of reflection on the peer feedback during the application and accreditation process. This article discusses a grid that GP trainers could use to analyse the training video and a means to capture the peer discussion.
A 'teaching review grid' is provided below. As trainers watch the video, they can record the evidence on the grid, in much the same way a trainer using a COT (consultation observation tool) grid does when reviewing trainee consultations.
The trainers feed back to their peer, using a feedback method of their choice, for example the SET-GO method. By the end of the peer discussion, trainers should be able to identify specific changes they wish to make to improve their practice on the basis of feedback received. This is captured in a reflection for the accreditation team.
Teaching review checklist grid
In each section peer reviewers should mark their observations, any notable practice and suggestions for improvement.
| Areas to assess | Observations (Notable practice – mark with *) (Suggestions for improvement – mark with ?) |
|---|---|
| 1. Environment and technical |
Evidence of pastoral role
By discussing the latter you are providing an outline of some learning opportunities and setting out what is expected of trainee |
| 2. Communication |
This could be evidence of how the trainer raises the trainees’ self-awareness and assesses how learners educated themselves.
This could be a demonstration of the trainer’s facilitation skills.
This acknowledges learner autonomy appropriate to their experience.
The trainer could have evidence here of being approachable; of having a non-judgemental attitude and valuing diversity.
This could be evidence of the trainer being informative and instructive.
|
| 3. Projected outcome |
Aim: In this teaching episode, what was the trainer's aim? Objective: What were the trainer's objectives? Intended learning outcome (ILOs): What did the trainer want this trainee to learn by the end of this discussion? How successful was the trainer in meeting these? |
| 4. Methods |
|
| 5. Anything else? |
|
| 6. What next? |
|
| 7. Discussion with peers |
|
Trainer's action plan
The following is for the trainer to complete. Having received peer feedback about their training video, this is their action plan.
| Key issues | GP trainer's thoughts |
|---|---|
| What learning need(s) have I (the GP trainer) identified? | |
| How will I fulfil this? | |
| How will my teaching change as a result? | |
| Date I plan to have achieved this by | |
| Signed off by reviewer/appraiser/deanery inspection team |
If the accreditation team is reviewing the video, they are looking for evidence of how:
- the trainer plans teaching;
- the range of teaching interventions used;
- the appropriateness of the learning opportunities;
- the support provided in developing the learner's self-directed learning, self-awareness, critical reflection and generic professional skills.
If the accreditation team is reviewing the trainer's reflection, they examine for evidence of:
- self evaluation of teaching;
- actions taken to improve teaching based on feedback; and
- an update in teaching skills.
Hopefully, the marking grid and learning need table provided in this article will help trainers capture the evidence they need.
- Dr Naidoo is a GP trainer in Oxford
Useful resources
- Copeland HL and Hewson MG. Developing and testing an instrument to measure the effectiveness of clinical teaching in an academic medical center. Acad Med 2000; 75: 161-6
- Health Education Kent, Surrey and Sussex. GP Edicational Supervisor Annual Peer Appraisal and PDP (link to Word document)
- Health Education England. Becoming a GP educator
- Mehay R. The Essential Handbook for GP Training and Education. CRC Press, 2012.
