Dr Naomi Wattchow, SALHN Cardiology Advanced Trainee delivering a TBL session
The College of Medicine and Public Health is committed to supporting the professional development of educators. We are strengthening academic career pathways and recognising contributions to teaching. We recently welcomed Dr Naomi Wattchow to the MD Year 2 teaching team. Naomi holds Academic Status with Flinders University and has contributed questions for the Progress Test, assisted with Clinical Reasoning sessions, and developed and led a Cardiology Team Based Learning (TBL) session for Introduction to Clinical Practice.
As a TBL Facilitator, Naomi leads the development and delivery of a Cardiology TBL session, where medical students worked together to solve clinical problems. We thank Naomi for sharing her clinical expertise and providing clinical context for the students.
Naomi’s motivation for teaching stems from her own experience of learning from astute clinical teachers who integrate information with immediate clinical scenarios. “There’s nothing more impressive than using your clinical skills at the bedside for diagnosis and management of patients,” she says. “As a clinician I hope to demonstrate the connection between learned knowledge and implementing it to treat patients as people.”
Naomi also believes that clinical practice in a teaching hospital should be intrinsically about learning. “It takes a whole community of a University and Hospital to create doctors – ultimately to be people who you would entrust to care for patients’ pathologies. Teaching on the run on the wards allows students to see clinical reasoning in action. Hang around on the Coronary Care Unit long enough and you’ll be helping to manage STEMIs, heart block and acute pulmonary oedema constantly!”
What has motivated you to teach in the Flinders MD? My own experience of learning from astute clinical teachers who integrate information with immediate clinical scenarios – there’s nothing more impressive than using your clinical skills at the bedside for diagnosis and management of patients! As a clinician, I hope to demonstrate the connection between learned knowledge and implementing it to treat patients as people.
What are your first impressions of teaching at Flinders? The methods of teaching have been challenged in COVID-times and Flinders is rising to the challenge through utilising multiple mediums for learning. The Team Based Learning sessions at the end of a topic week provide a great environment for students to test their knowledge individually and then collaborate in their group to realise that their outcomes are immeasurably improved with teamwork!
What aspects of teaching have you enjoyed the most so far? It is a delight to play a small role in contributing to the immense volume of knowledge that is required to train a junior doctor. One of my central ambitions is to empower students not with expectations of perfection, but with learning the skills of clinical judgement and patient advocacy: being safe, problem solving and knowing your limitations while pushing for the best outcomes for your patients.
What are your top three tips to prepare for a TBL?
- Prepare questions with scenarios that are common and therefore essential knowledge, with progressively more difficult themes.
- Make questions clinically focussed with next step in diagnosis and management to reduce pattern recognition and enhance problem solving.
- Reminisce about your own examples which demonstrate unforgettable clinical pearls!
Clinicians are encouraged to visit the Academic Status webpages and contact the Clinician Support Team (clinicians@flinders.edu.au) to discuss pathways to an academic career and find out more about teaching opportunities.