Preparing for real-life medical situations

Kyle Johnston is in the final year of his medical degree, and getting ready to put all of his medical knowledge and skills into practice as a hospital intern.

As part of this preparation, Kyle recently participated in the “On Call” simulated clinical scenarios project, an initiative between The University of Queensland’s Rural Clinical School in Toowoomba, and the University of Southern Queensland’s Faculty of Sciences.

The scene takes place at USQ, where medical and nursing students are brought together in a simulated ward environment with actors taking on the role of patients with ‘real’ problems and symptoms.

The students, using clinical problem solving and judgment, must assess the situation, make a diagnosis and implement a management plan.

Specialised medical trainers are utilised so that students are able to practice skills such as inserting intravenous cannulas and administration of “prescribed” medications.

The students and actors are supervised by UQ and USQ lecturers, who provide immediate feedback after each scenario identifying strengths and areas for improvement.

Local GP and UQ lecturer in General Practice Dr Loretto Wainwright was one of the supervisors for the scenarios.

Dr Wainwright said that the activity provided an excellent opportunity for students to experience working together to manage a clinical problem.

"It’s not enough to just have the knowledge, the students need to have the ability to communicate with the medical team as well as the patient," Dr Wainwright said.

"They need to think about a number of issues at once, looking at the bigger picture of what could be happening.

"Each scenario, I see students growing in confidence and the ability to work with the medical team."

Kyle said that the experience had given him the opportunity to feel better prepared for real-life medical situations.

“It joins together my learning in a realistic situation where everybody needs to work together at once," Kyle said.

Kyle worked with USQ nursing students Bonnie Shaw and Lauren Hall who said it was an excellent opportunity to find out their own strengths and weaknesses before working with real patients.

The project has just received significant funding from Health Workforce Australia, to roll out these valuable simulation learning scenarios to other rural, regional and remote centres across Queensland.

MEDIA: Ms Melanie Cameron, UQ Rural Clinical School, Ph: 4633 9731, 0447 761 140, email m.cameron2@uq.edu.au