Biomedical subjects

T Skjerven

Publications and source records attributed to T Skjerven.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1998

[Practice is learned by practice].

Efficient continuing education for experienced physicians should build upon and reflect doctors' concrete everyday experiences and self-defined learning needs. Reciprocal practice visits among general practitioners, afford excellent opportunities for colleagues to see and be seen, to reflect, discuss, learn from each other and develop networks, using commonly experienced consultations as a starting point. Practice visits have been credited within the Norwegian continuing medical education system since 1989, but very few practitioners have made use of the method. We have developed a course where groups of 10-12 experienced general practitioners conduct four whole day practice visits over a 2-month period. Group sessions, totalling 20 hours, are used to develop cohesion and trust among colleagues through discussions and exercises. In the later stages, plenary sessions are used to present and discuss experiences from all of the practice visits, and participants are encouraged to develop ideas and strategies concerning their professional future. The participants in the three courses arranged so far (n = 31) were general practitioners with, on average, ten years of experience. Evaluations were positive, and emphasized the value of the course as an opportunity to break the relative isolation of general practice, and share experiences, insights, frustrations and ideas with colleagues.

Clinical Competence↗

PubMed1998

[How does professional competence develop?].

The reality of medical practice demands not only proficiency but also educational provisions, an aspect which traditionally has been given little attention in medicine. The competence of a general practitioner does not consist solely of professional knowledge and practical skills; it consists to a large extent of personal (intuition and creativity based on personal experience) and communicative elements, both of which are necessary in managing the unpredictable complexity and the many controversies of general practice. Such competence is difficult to develop outside the practice. By sharing the experience of actual consultations with experienced colleagues, and reflecting upon this experience within a small group, general practitioners will probably develop better professional judgement and increased awareness of their learning needs, as well as of their limitations and potential. This article discusses these topics using the authors' personal experiences in the continuous medical education effort which is based on reciprocal practice visits among a small group of experienced general practitioners.

Clinical Competence↗

PubMed1998

[Competence centers fo clinical skills for general practitioners].

For a number of years not enough attention has been paid to training in practical skills, neither in pre- nor postgraduate medical education. Lack of training and experience poses particular problems for the general practitioner, who often works alone with little opportunity for assessment by and feedback from colleagues. The Clinical Skills Training Centre was established to develop and implement methods for training general practitioners in clinical skills. Its main objective is to develop teaching methods that will encourage doctors to adapt their professional behaviour as and when necessary. The centre has developed a series of short, 2-day courses for small groups of 10-12 participants where focus is on selected clinical topics. The courses are continuously evaluated including assessment by the participants themselves of their procedural proficiency. Results are encouraging, with the majority of doctors reporting implementation of one or more of the relevant procedures at the final evaluation. An interesting new concept is a programme of reciprocal visits among groups of 10 to 12 general practitioners. The intention of the programme is to break the isolation of the consultation and utilize the potential for learning that exists when colleagues are able to observe each other at work and draw on each other's experiences.

Clinical Competence↗