Involving medical students in staff development activities

Staff development is seen as a key aspect of medical education and many teachers/tutors are now required to attend some formal development activity. However, most workshops do not involve the student. In Manchester, the philosophy is to actively involve students in all aspects of the undergraduate course including delivery and evaluation. The authors have also worked with students in staff development. This predominantly descriptive article sets out some of the ways in which students have been involved in staff development, including co-facilitating sessions, role-play and discussion groups. Feedback from 10 workshops was analysed, which showed that 76% of the staff found the student involvement to be the most useful aspect of the workshops, particularly as it allowed staff to engage students in discussion about the course. Both these results and informal feedback from participants suggest that involvement of students is highly valued. Feedback from student volunteers also suggests that they gain from the experience.