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29 Outpatient learning perspectives: experience among junior neurology doctors at Great Ormond Street Hospital

Abstract

Background Our aim was to capture experiences of neurology fellows and trainees about their participation in general neurology clinics at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) and evaluate those clinics as an educational tool.

Methods A questionnaire was created based on Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health curriculum requirements and was distributed via e-mail to junior doctors who have worked in the Neurology Department between 08/2022 and 07/2023.

Results A total of 22 doctors replied. Of those, 27.3% were senior clinical fellows from overseas, 27.3% paediatric neurology grid trainees, 18.2% post-certificate of training completion fellows or paediatricians with special interest neurology.

Regarding clinics metrics, 63.6% of junior doctors joined clinics once monthly and 77.3% saw 3 new patients on a clinic day. In total, 90.1% of them found general neurology clinics to be helpful in improving their clinical skills and 68.2% felt that clinics help them develop therapeutic relationships with attention to patient/family concerns. Furthermore, 72.7% felt that the kind of patients they see in general neurology clinics are representative of the patients they would manage in everyday practice as consultants. Nevertheless, 28.6% of participants expressed concerns about lack of -protected time during clinics. In addition, 36.3% did not feel that they received adequate feedback from the supervising consultant regarding specific skills to work on these accordingly and 31.8% found that the number of patients they followed up in clinics was not adequate for training purposes. The majority (54.5%) were doubtful about the contribution of virtual clinics to their professional development.

Conclusion Neurology outpatient clinics contribute to the training and professional development of junior doctors. Protected time, appropriate ratio of new and follow-up patients and constructive feedback from consultants are areas needing improvement. GOSH, as a teaching multicultural hospital, can play a crucial role in the training of future consultants.

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