Bridging Theory and Practice: How to Make a Teaching Session Interactive and Challenging

Last Wednesday, I had the honour of delivering a teaching session to the Advanced Clinical Practitioners (ACP) team in the Trauma and Orthopaedics department at Southampton General Hospital. Among various teaching sessions I've conducted, this one was particularly important to me.

My first job as a doctor was in the Trauma and Orthopaedics at Southampton General Hospital. The ACP team at that time was exceptionally supportive, playing a pivotal role in my development as both a confident doctor and an effective team player.

The focus of this teaching session was on recognising and managing atrial fibrillation (AF) in Trauma and Orthopaedics.

Make Your Teaching Session Interactive and Challenging

Through my teaching experiences with colleagues and medical students, I've discovered that making the teaching session interactive and challenging is a crucial element (if not the most crucial) to make it effective.

Ideally, understanding your audience's pre-existing knowledge, needs, and goals is essential. However, this is often easier said than done. At times, you may not know who will attend your session or, even if you do, they might represent diverse profiles.

In this instance, I was well-acquainted with my audience, and their needs and knowledge levels on the topic were relatively uniform. Having spent considerable time in Trauma and Orthopaedics, I understood what was important and relevant.

To promote interactivity, I aimed to present cases that mirrored real-life scenarios as closely as possible. Considering the healthcare professionals' familiarity with Single Best Answer Questions (SBAQs), I used Enlinked to generate SBAQs targeting specific knowledge areas while incorporating clinical scenarios relevant to the Trauma and Orthopaedics day-to-day routine.

Thanks to generative AI and Enlinked, this task was accomplished with ease. By providing the topic and iterating as necessary, I was able to formulate questions that adhered to the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) 2020 guidelines on AF.

One of these questions (see below) was based on the guideline which states that the clinical pattern of AF (whether first-diagnosed, paroxysmal, persistent, long-standing persistent, or permanent) should NOT dictate the need for anticoagulation. This implies that, once a patient develops AF, even if due to a reversible cause, their risk score should be assessed using the CHA2DS2VASc score, and anticoagulation management should be planned accordingly. The patient's return to sinus rhythm after resolving the precipitant does not alter this requirement. Therefore, the correct answer to the question is C (since this patient's CHA2DS2VASc score is high).

Why It's Important to Make it Interactive and Challenging

Research has demonstrated that when we are faced with a problem prior to being presented with its solution, our minds become primed for learning. We identify our knowledge gaps and comprehend what we need to learn and its significance.

This learning principle is referred to as Generation in the fascinating book about learning Make It Stick by P. Brown, H. Roediger III, and M. McDaniel.

This is how we learn in real life. We are presented with a problem that we must solve, often not on a theoretical level, but a practical one. This responsibility motivates us to mobilise our intellectual and creative abilities to come up with a solution. We also learn how to work in a team by consulting others, or we conduct research, which teaches us how to research effectively.

You can see why this is so useful now. A lot of learning takes place in this process, and it is not boring! It is exciting for the learners because they know why they are learning and what they need to learn. They have a genuine problem to solve.

This is what we aim to replicate with the clinical scenarios presented during a teaching session in the form of SBAQs. This approach is also the foundation of problem-based learning (PBL).

Summary

Make it interactive and challenging! You have the industry and topic expertise. You know what the real problems are. Therefore, try to create one that mimics a real problem well. Present it to your audience and then let them struggle with it for a bit.

Once they have grappled with the problem, give them feedback and try to understand their knowledge gaps. Having a new understanding of what they know, iterate.

I am genuinely delighted to have had the opportunity to teach my colleagues from the ACP team in Trauma and Orthopaedics and to have received such positive feedback about the session's interactivity:

"I enjoyed the case studies, discussing treatment options as a group, and weighing up all options."

"A very enjoyable session, interactive and informative."

I look forward to the opportunity to teach there again in the future!