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An iceberg in Springfield: using the humanities to explore and challenge the attitudes of general practice (GP) educators towards the management of GP registrars with substance abuse problems
Author(s) -
Moulton E A,
McMain S S
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
medical education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.776
H-Index - 138
eISSN - 1365-2923
pISSN - 0308-0110
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2923.2004.01757.x
Subject(s) - surprise , presentation (obstetrics) , preparedness , feeling , variety (cybernetics) , medical education , the arts , substance abuse , psychology , medicine , pedagogy , psychiatry , social psychology , obstetrics , computer science , artificial intelligence , political science , law
Some general practice registrars (GPRs) have substance abuse problems, and course organisers and trainers need to be vigilant to this possibility. We describe a critical incident involving this type of problem, and how the learning was shared with other GP educators. By using the humanities, we attempted to generate an emotional as well as an intellectual response, with the aim of achieving deeper learning. Methods We gave a presentation to a group of GP educators, using a variety of material from the creative arts (visual, auditory and creative writing) to raise awareness of the issues. The presentation was designed to enable participants to experience some of the feelings of surprise and lack of preparedness that we had experienced ourselves. Results The presentation stimulated an in‐depth discussion about the challenges faced by educators when they discover that their learners may have substance abuse problems. Early and late evaluation indicated that awareness of the problem had been raised and attitudes challenged and changed. Participation in the presentation had stimulated educators to consider including this area within their teaching, to be more vigilant to the possibility of registrars with substance abuse problems and to think about developing systems to manage such registrars. Conclusion Diverse educational methods can be effective when teaching within difficult and complex areas that challenge attitudes.