Journal Article

7950 Developing future leaders: can simulation improve non-clinical leadership and management skills for paediatric trainees?

Thaxter, David, Round, Jonathan, Ndukwe Georgina, Oram, Rebecca, Longley, Catherine, Connor, Brett, Fleming, Shakira, Rance, Thomas, Lundy Conan, Wren, Felicity, Greenough, Sarah, Ferin Katheryn, Elliott, Jonathan, Witcombe Samuel

2025

Overview

Why did you do this work?To assess the effectiveness of simulation-based management training for trainees acting as ‘Trust Representatives’.What did you do?Trust Representatives are paediatric trainees that advocate on behalf of colleagues, chair regular ‘Junior-Junior’ and ‘Junior-Senior’ meetings and liaise with the Trainee Committee. A Trust Rep Training Day was devised for all Trust Representatives in London to prepare them for the role. 21 delegates attended a day of training on leadership and management techniques.This project focusses on the implementation and evaluation of a session based around simulated ‘Junior-Junior’ meetings, which were chaired by the delegates. Scenarios included common complaints, such as rota, staffing, teaching and supervision. There was a focus on managing challenging situations, such as disruptors and excessive negativity, whilst maintaining a productive, solution-focussed meeting.Online questionnaires were completed by delegates before and after this session. Respondents rated, using a Likert scale from 1 to 5, how confident they felt to chair junior-junior meetings and how confident they felt to keep them productive. The pre-session questionnaire also included a question on whether they had previously received management training and the post-session questionnaire asked for wider feedback on the session.What did you find?17/21 delegates completed the pre- and 16/21 delegates completed the post-session questionnaire.76.5% of delegates had never previously received training in leadership or management.The confidence of the delegates in chairing ‘Junior-Junior’ meetings increased from a mean of 3.4 to 4.3. The extent to which they felt able to keep meetings productive also increased, from a mean of 3.1 to 4.3. The average score in response to a question about the usefulness of the session was 4.6/5.Examples of qualitative feedback for the session included:‘Enjoyed participation and role play’; ‘Was good to trial techniques and find new ones’; ‘Fun!’‘Sim helped to navigate what you would do in a session and how you would feel, especially with disruptors’What does it mean?Management activities form a significant part of the consultant paediatrician workload. Despite this, the majority of paediatric trainees surveyed had never received any leadership or management training.The results of the questionnaires show that simulation-based management training can increase confidence and perceived effectiveness when starting a management or leadership role.These results suggest that simulation-based management training may have wider applications. Based on this experience, a similar session has been delivered to St. George’s University Medical Students undertaking a leadership based ‘specially selected component’.

• Publisher: BMJ Publishing Group LTD
• Subject: Adult Educators / Adult Learning / Adults / Confidence / Course Evaluation / Drug abuse / Drug use / Eating behavior / Education / Educational Needs / Feedback / Gender / Gender identity / Medical personnel / Mental health / Needs Assessment / Patients / Pediatrics / Self-injury / Sexual health / Simulation / Substance use / Training / Young adults