Clinical Debrief Facilitator

Clinical Debrief sessions are delivered in small groups of five to ten students in Year 3 of the Manchester MBChB programme. Sessions are facilitated by the same GP for two blocks of 14 and 10 consecutive weeks, with each session lasting for 2.25 hours.

They are friendly teaching experiences which encourage and facilitate sharing of the students’ professional and clinical experiences from their first full year of full clinical placement.

The three key aims to CD sessions are:

1. Debrief – offering the students a supportive environment where they can share, discuss and explore their professional and clinical experiences from the first year of full clinical placement learning
2. Clinical Reasoning Skills development – using students’ own case histories to develop the thought processes behind formulating differential diagnoses, and choices for investigation and further management. The supportive classroom environment allows students to practice weighing up clinical decisions in complex, real-life scenarios and to stand in the shoes of their practising seniors.
3. Preparation for practice – a buffet of activities which allow students to develop skills and ideas for their training and to aid in their professional identity development.

“Teaching CD has prompted me to be much more up to date in my reading and has made me much more mindful of my own clinical reasoning processes.”
Dr Mervin

What the sessions involve

Tutors get to know their group and tailor their teaching sessions to the students’ needs by way of learning outcomes generated in the session by the students. It is a free space where students can ‘unload’ by debriefing their week.

Areas that can be covered include:

• Clinical Reasoning and critical thinking
• investigations and management choices
• professionalism and emerging professional identity discussions/activities
• current newspaper articles or hot topics
• ethical scenarios
• Situational Judgment Test scenarios
• Clinical Skills Assessments (CCAs)/practical exam skills
• Prescribing Safety
• Longitudinal and Narrative Medicine

These areas can be covered using a variety of tools including thought-provoking pieces from newspapers, videos, real-life examples, group discussion and debate around broad-based themes. You and your group decide what you want to get out of the sessions.

Feedback scores from students are always very high, especially when their tutors are enthusiastic, experienced GPs, so we are always looking for new tutors that fit this brief.

Support for GPs

You will attend a half-day training session prior to starting your teaching, and have peer and senior support through a buddy group from day one. You are also encouraged to attend the annual Clinical Debrief Tutor Away Day and can work towards teaching awards through the Academy HE.

Dates for 2024-25

Sessions run from 23.09.24 – 17.01.25 and 20.01.25 – 28.03.25.

“By discussion of events [and] personal experiences on the ward, and by listening to the group’s interpretation of these events, I have been able to reflect in my portfolio with a deeper level of understanding.”
Student

Find out more

If you are interested in becoming a Clinical Debrief tutor, please contact clinicaldebrief@manchester.ac.uk for more information.