by Dr Agalya Ramanathan and Dr Sian Powell
It is known that medical students may experience discrimination in clinical placements and the BMA and GMC have called for universities to provide training for clinical teachers to create more inclusive learning environments. In a recent survey, we asked our community GP Teachers for their perspectives on what training would help them to best support our students if they experience discrimination. Many of our GP Teachers reported feeling unsure how to advise students to report discrimination or access further support. To address this, we developed contextualised training materials in partnership with a community GP tutor and students with lived experience.
We have created a short video for GP tutors which includes tips on creating an inclusive learning environment and supporting students experiencing discrimination, and information about the faculty’s reporting and support systems. If you have not already seen the video, you can access it here. We are grateful to Dr Saad, a GP tutor, and to medical student Thivyaa Gangatharan for contributing their insights in the video.
We have also held two interactive workshops. The first was in person at our Annual Teachers’ Conference in June and was well received. Our online ASTIC (Advanced Skills for Teachers at Imperial College) workshop in October offered space and time for authentic facilitated case-based discussions in a safe environment where participants could reflect on ways to support students experiencing different forms of discrimination and where to signpost them to for additional support.
We will run this workshop again in 2024 and welcome as many of you to attend as possible so that we can continue discussions on how best to create inclusive clinical learning environments for our students. We know all of you will have different perspectives that we can all learn from, and we look forward to seeing you at future workshops.