The 'Nifty Fifty': medical student ward work guide

Background: Final-year medical students have many timetabled clinical and academic commitments. Independent ward time is an opportunity for students to experience situated learning; however, there are a number of barriers to participation. We aimed to identify barriers to independent ward work and provide a tool to maximise learning opportunities and encourage multidisciplinary learning. We created the booklet: Nifty Fifty: Ways to Avoid Being a Trip Hazard on the Wards using anecdotal and personal experience to guide curriculum-orientated learning.

Methods: Students undertaking attachments on medical wards at Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham, UK, were provided with a small printed handbook of 50 suggested activities to participate in when on a ward. Feedback was collected at the beginning, middle and end of the attachment, with the handbook distributed following a mid-attachment questionnaire. This feedback was compared with that of a control group. Quantitative data were subsequently analysed. We created the booklet: Nifty Fifty … using anecdotal and personal experience to guide curriculum-orientated learning RESULTS: Post-intervention feedback showed an improvement in the frequency of ward attendance, a reduction in the perceived barriers to independent ward work and an increase in the perceived usefulness of ward attendance. Students who received the handbook reported an improvement in confidence in self-directed ward work compared with the control group.

Discussion: We have demonstrated that a simple handbook may assist in the facilitation of independent ward work for final-year medical students, with widespread improvements in measured outcomes. Our project was limited by size, but we believe that its positive results could be scaled up.