Blackpool hospital’s Grand Round welcomes guests speakers from Canada

Dr Andrew West, Dr Gale Parchoma and Mike Dickinson

The Trust played host to speakers from organisations in Canada to talk about their research into simulation-based learning.

Dr Gale Parchoma, an Associate Professor at the University of Saskatchewan and Dr Andrew West, a Respiratory Therapist and Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Society of Respiratory Therapists, presented at a Grand Round.

Gale previously worked at Lancaster University as a lecturer, and has been to the Trust previously as part of her research work involving human factors and simulation with our unit’s manager Mike Dickinson.

Unfortunately, a third member of their research team, Dr Gordon Green of the Medical University of the Americas was unable to attend to present. His research was, however, included and shared within the presentation.

In 2009, Gale was working in Lancaster and became involved in a Knowledge Transfer Partnership program which led to the formulation of research into the development of simulated-based medical education (SBME).

Gale worked with Mike Dickinson and a number of his colleagues from the Lancashire Simulation Centre at Preston hospital to commission and develop a research project looking at how learner experiences were influenced by various modalities of SBME and Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL).

The North West was heavily involved in the study, with Lancashire Teaching Hospitals being chosen as the initial site where the information was collated.

The current research presented extends on that initial work, spanning disciplines and borders.  The team feels that the research has been very influential within simulation-based learning environments. It has been shared here in the North West, nationally, and in Canada and the United States of America.  Dr Gordon Green also used the initial work as a starting point for his research, which was conducted in Charleston, South Carolina.

Gale and Andrew have returned to England to discuss the on-going progress of the research at the Trust and beyond, and they were asked if they could discuss the research at the grand round.

Gale said: “The research is new work and very important. Areas such as debriefing, fidelity, and assessment models have been highlighted through the collaborations with the work at different hospitals.

“Two publications were based on research undertaken at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals. The collaborations among research team members from different disciplines helped to put that research into context, making the research relevant not only medical learning, but also allied medical professional learning.‘’

Andrew said: “I am a former doctoral student of Gale’s and we continue to work together in research and education. As a respiratory therapist, it is great to see how our research crosses disciplines, and in doing so brings us together to enhance all of our practices.

“We are looking to extend the research into different healthcare contexts. It is great to be here in Blackpool and the North West for us to bring the research back to where it started.”

Mike Dickinson added: “Gale and I have worked together for a few years now. Gale travelled to the hospital to talk about the development at Blackpool. I asked her if she would like to talk about her work in one of our grand rounds.

“The simulation unit at the trust is excited by the opportunity to become involved in this international collaborative research. It demonstrates that the unit here at the Trust is progressing rapidly into one of “the” units in the UK in which to undertake training. Working in collaboration with our colleagues from Lancashire Teaching Hospitals we are looking forward to expanding and developing the use of SBME and TEL to all areas of the Trust and wider healthcare service”.

To watch the full video of the talk, please click the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUkuaRTqMbA

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