Why a programme in clinical teaching/education?

The need for clinical teaching skills in healthcare has never been greater; the increase in doctors, nurses, midwives, pharmacists, and other healthcare professionals, new Medical and Pharmacy Schools, and the increased demands for both initial and continuing professional development (CPD) of clinical staff place extra demands on those who teach within the clinical settings.

There exists some training for healthcare professionals who teach in the clinical settings. There are new demands for more sustained and developmental programmes which provide high quality accredited routes for those professionals. The Nursing & Midwifery Council has standards and requirements for lecturers and practice educators undertaking teaching roles. The General Medical Council in its draft guidance for CPD requires doctors to have appropriate teaching skills, and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain has set out a Competency Framework for Pre-registration Pharmacy Tutors.

Furthermore, the quality assurance of NHS-funded education will involve greater emphasis on the quality of clinical teaching. QAA, on behalf of the Department of Health, will be undertaking a major review for health provision, and part of this review will be placement learning. This emphasises the importance of well prepared practitioners for roles in relation to teaching and learning.

The emphasis from the NHS plan on professionals working and learning together is an important element of this programme, with core skills around communication and facilitating inter-professional education being central. It is clear that, in future, healthcare professionals should expect their education and training to include common learning with other professions, and teachers will need to be able to adapt to such changes. One way to do this is to develop teachers and trainers in an inter-professional environment.

Last updated by Karon McBride on 9th November 2005