“..with head, and heart and hand.”
The words of Dr Charles Hastings are clearly on display in the foyer of the offices of BMA House, the headquarters of the British Medic al Association in the heart of London. In 1932, Dr Hastings’ appealed for doctors across the UK to join together “with head, and heart and hand” to form an association which should ‘have as its main objective the diffusion and increase of medical knowledge in every aspect of science and practice’.
The world has changed beyond all recognition since then. Dr Hastings would have travelled to conferences by horse and cart, rather than by train, plane or automobile. He would have had very little in the way of diagnostic equipment, or medicines. Many of his treatment tools would have been hard to differentiate from those of a carpenter, or even a butcher. Compare this to the vast array of high-tech electronics, robotics, precision-made tools and therapeutic options available in today’s hospitals and surgeries.
With classifications and sub-classifications of medical conditions recognised by the World Health Organisation now totalling over 16,000 and with thousands of treatment options, it is no surprise that each doctor increasingly becomes a unique specialist, to a greater or lesser extent. This holds true even when the practitioner has the word ‘General’ in their title.
With so much to learn, it is unsurprising that a large percentage of delegates at our regular Teach the Teacher Course for Doctors arrive with the specific aim of learning how to impart factual information and ‘technical expertise’. Yet, even the quickest glance at the four domains of Good Medical Practice is all that is required to highlight that there is much more to being a doctor than hard facts and science.
- Domain 1: Knowledge, skills and attitude
- Domain 2: Safety and quality
- Domain 3: Communication, partnership and teamwork
- Domain 4: Maintaining trust
There are parallels between ‘head, heart and hand’ and ‘knowledge, skills and attitude’. Good Medical Practice provides a useful framework to guide the development requirements of knowledge, skills and attitude for peers and junior doctors – regardless of speciality or mode of practice.
Not every aspect of practice can be developed in the same teaching method. A lecture can pass on information, but is unlikely to engage the hand. ‘Show one, share one, do one’ is a useful approach to developing process or technique, but has limited impact upon understanding why or attitude. Likewise there is only so much that can be learned by reading books and papers – or even blog-posts for that matter.
Paragraph 7 of Good Medical Practice states that, as a doctor, ‘You must be competent in all aspects of your work, including management, research and teaching.’ Effective teaching should enable doctors to practice ‘with head, and heart, and hand’. Achieving this requires a good grasp of the theories of adult learning, combined with the application of a broad range of teaching techniques.
Oxford Medical Training is the UK’s leading provider of high quality career development for doctors of all levels. We specialise in advancing leadership, management, communication, interview and teaching skills in the medical environment through our courses, distance learning and one to one bespoke services
