Pocket Guide to Teaching for Clinical Instructors

By Ian Bullock and Mike Davis

The Pocket Guide to Teaching for Clinical Instructors, 3rd edition, provides a concise introduction to teaching.  Written by experienced medical educators from the Advanced Life Support Group and Resuscitation Council (UK), this best-selling guide gives comprehensive and practical advice on the most effective teaching methods. 

Pocket Guide to Teaching for Clinical Instructors covers basic principles and practical aspects of teaching in a variety of modalities. This edition includes material which reflects current developments within instructor courses and includes new material on feedback, an awareness of non-technical skills, the teaching of teams and supporting learners.

This book is essential reading for anyone interested in teaching doctors and healthcare professionals in any context. It is aimed at the relative newcomer to the teaching role in all its variety and provides essential, practical advice as to how to get the best out of learners.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wiley
• Release date: Jun 3, 2015
• ISBN: 9781118860632

Book preview

Contributors to the third edition

Ian Bullock

London

Mike Davis

Blackpool

Kate Denning

Plymouth

Sue Hampshire

London

Andrew Lockey

Halifax

Kevin Mackie

Birmingham

Kevin Mackway-Jones

Manchester

Sarah Mitchell

London

Elizabeth Norris

Bath

Sue Wieteska

Manchester

Contributors to the first and second editions

Ian Bullock

London

Andrew Coleman

Northampton

Mick Colquhoun

Cardiff

Pat Conaghan

Manchester

Mike Davis

Blackpool

Kate Denning

Plymouth

Peter Driscoll

Manchester

David Gabbott

Bristol

Carl Gwinnutt

Manchester

Bob Harris

London

Duncan Harris

London

Sara Harris

London

Jane Hatfield

Oxford

Gareth Holsgrove

Cambridge

Pauline Howard

Oxford

Melanie Humphreys

Wolverhampton

Lynn Jones

Manchester

Andrew Lockey

Halifax

Kevin Mackie

Birmingham

Kevin Mackway-Jones

Manchester

Sarah Mitchell

London

Jerry Nolan

Oxford

Gavin Perkins

Birmingham

Russell Perkins

Manchester

Mike Walker

London

Terence Wardle

Chester

Celia Warlow

Northampton

Sue Wieteska

Manchester

Jonathan Wyllie

Middlesbrough

Jackie Younker

Bristol

Foreword

The third edition of the Pocket Guide to Teaching for Clinical Instructors (commonly known as the ‘Blue Book’) is certainly a success story. Written for the first time in 1998 by medical educators engaged with the RC (UK) and the ALSG to support the generic instructor courses (GIC), it was quickly appreciated throughout Europe with its second expanded edition published in 2008. Translations into several languages followed and during the last few years it was adopted by the ERC as the written teaching source for their GIC.

Some might argue that teaching is a practical skill that ignites the learning process and it cannot be learnt from a book. Without solid theoretical background about how learning is promoted through different teaching approaches, a medical instructor’s entire teaching effort is reduced to empiricism and merely passing on beliefs.

It is fascinating how the authors of the ‘blue book’, all excellent practitioners in teaching, have been able to condense their knowledge into the well-structured chapters of this book. As a guide for instructors, it is not just another textbook on teaching in medicine.

It is a comprehensive and concise theoretical framework for effective teaching in life support courses and contains many practical tips. Reading this book before or after a GIC helps one to understand the background of the discussions and exercises, and gain keen insight into how teaching can be improved.

New chapters have been added to this new edition, which reflects the current developments of the learning needs in the GIC. Scenario teaching and role play are now discussed under the title of simulation. Instructors are not only expected to ‘run a scenario’, but rather to try as much as possible to imitate the clinical reality of the course candidates. This connects the learning objectives of the simulation to the daily clinical practice of the participants with the aim of fostering deeper understanding and enhancing retention. Important background is provided on how to ‘buy in’ professionals even in low and very low fidelity simulation settings, which is the case in many resuscitation courses.

Other important adaptations include the ‘learning conversation’ as a more direct approach to feedback. It's a move away from a rather closed structure of feedback as in the ‘feedback sandwich’ or also the Pendleton model of feedback. The learning conversation opens a discussion about the views of the participants on events during simulation and includes other team members in critical reflection with the instructor. All this is funnelled down in the end to an action plan for new learning goals to improve performance.

In the last few years, the patient safety movement has recommended that increasing attention should be given to non-technical skills (NTS) in medicine. Therefore, this version of the book encourages instructors to also teach NTS during life support courses. The reader will find a chapter on the teaching of teams, which touches upon differences between teaching individuals and groups and what makes an effective working team. That is of utmost importance for the challenges medicine faces in the 21st century.

The chapter ‘Supporting Learners’ takes up the team teaching idea and adds to the discussion about the ‘role of the instructor’ with important perspectives on mentoring candidates. This chapter also includes new inputs on the function and purpose of faculty meetings and how they can improve teaching and learning in GIC.

I hope this edition will meet the expectations of medical instructors and help them to improve their teaching so that the newest medical knowledge can to be translated into effective inter-professional and inter-disciplinary team-based patient treatment.

Robert Tino Greif

Director of Training and Education, European Resuscitation Council

Bern, Switzerland

This concise but comprehensive publication (the so called ‘blue-book’) will provide background reading for participants and instructors before and after their ERC GIC. With this support, the ERC and ALSG/RC (UK) authors and editors wish all GIC-participants successful teaching experiences on their provider courses.

Preface to the third edition

It is with great pleasure that we introduce the third edition of the Blue Book to you. Our first edition in 1998 laid some important foundations for the practice of course presentation and reflection on that experience; our second edition in 2008 built on these and extended the original approach in breadth and depth. This latest edition reflects ongoing developments and adaptations, including the introduction of blended learning in instructor training and the nature of the changing role of the instructors, particularly in relation to giving feedback, the structure and purpose of small group teaching and further thoughts on initiating and maintaining psychological realism in simulated learning events. We introduce for the first time, attention to non-technical skills and a focus on management of life support being a team, as opposed to an individual, endeavour.

We continue to provide a firm basis for the more practical components by drawing attention to important and relevant adult education theory. We also continue to maintain a robust model of effective planning and preparation for the variety of teaching modalities that you are likely to meet on courses. We recognise the contribution that this can make to other teaching that you might engage in your day to day interaction with colleagues and elsewhere.

We welcome the endorsement of the European Resuscitation Council and its formal adoption of the Blue Book as background reading for their instructors and candidates on their Generic Instructor Course.

The Blue Book is now just one element of a more complex educational experience than that which emerged in the late 20th century. While some elements remain the same such as a commitment to sound practices in adult learning others have had to respond to, sometimes competing, pressures. Blended learning is now a key ingredient of much of medical and other health care related courses at undergraduate level and continuing medical education has to reflect that change in practices. Nevertheless, there is still the need for a small, portable and well written book: hence the new edition of the Pocket Guide to Teaching for Clinical Instructors. We hope you enjoy it.

Ian Bullock

Mike Davis

Andrew Lockey

Kevin Mackway-Jones

(Editors)

Preface to the first edition

This short guide is in two parts. Part one begins by introducing the basic principles under teaching and then goes on to deal in more detail with a number of modes of teaching on courses. Lectures skill stations, scenarios, workshops and discussions are dealt with here. In each case practical guidance is given to help the reader to become a more effective teacher.

Part two covers many of the same areas again, but this time giving more background information and describing some more advanced instructional skills. It deals with the nature of adult learning, the four domains of learning, the learning process, questions and answers, role play, mentoring