Rural practice 10
Track 21
| Thursday, October 26, 2023 |
| 10:45 AM - 12:40 PM |
| Meeting Room E3.3 |
Speaker
Prof Lucie Walters
Director, Adelaide Rural Clinical School
Adelaide Rural Clinical School, University of Adelaide
Clinical courage – the stuff rural generalists are made of
10:45 AM - 11:40 AMSummary
Clinical courage in rural generalists has the following features: Standing up to serve anybody and everybody in the community; Accepting uncertainty and persistently seeking to prepare; Deliberately understanding and marshalling resources in context; Humbly seeking to know one’s own limits; Clearing the cognitive hurdle when something needs to be done for your patient; and Collegial support to stand up again.(1)
Further work has illustrated that, as a collective, rural doctors can learn, use and strengthen clinical courage and support its development in new members of the discipline. Relationships with rural communities, rural patients and urban colleagues can support the clinical courage of rural doctors. When detractors challenge the value of clinical courage, it requires individual rural doctors and their community of practice to champion rural doctors’ way of working.(2)
This interactive workshop will present a short summary of the more recent research into clinical courage (3)
Participants will have an opportunity to discuss:
• How relevant is clinical courage to your rural practice?
• How can this exploratory research be translated into educational practice to develop the next generation of rural generalists?
• What next for clinical courage?
References
1. Konkin J , Grave L, Cockburn E, Couper I, Stewart R, Campbell D, Walters L. (2020) Exploration of rural physicians’ lived experience of practicing outside their usual scope of practice to provide access to essential medical care (clinical courage): an international phenomenological study BMJ Open https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/bmjopen/10/8/e037705.full.pdf
2. Walters L, Couper I, Stewart RA, Campbell DG, Konkin J. (2021) The impact of interpersonal relationships on rural doctors’ clinical courage. Rural and Remote Health: 6668. https://doi.org/10.22605/RRH6668
3. Campbell D, Williams S, Konkin J, White I, Couper I, Stewart R, Walters L. New insights on rural doctors’ clinical courage in the context of the emerging COVID-19 pandemic. Can J Rural Med. Accepted 6/12/2022
Further work has illustrated that, as a collective, rural doctors can learn, use and strengthen clinical courage and support its development in new members of the discipline. Relationships with rural communities, rural patients and urban colleagues can support the clinical courage of rural doctors. When detractors challenge the value of clinical courage, it requires individual rural doctors and their community of practice to champion rural doctors’ way of working.(2)
This interactive workshop will present a short summary of the more recent research into clinical courage (3)
Participants will have an opportunity to discuss:
• How relevant is clinical courage to your rural practice?
• How can this exploratory research be translated into educational practice to develop the next generation of rural generalists?
• What next for clinical courage?
References
1. Konkin J , Grave L, Cockburn E, Couper I, Stewart R, Campbell D, Walters L. (2020) Exploration of rural physicians’ lived experience of practicing outside their usual scope of practice to provide access to essential medical care (clinical courage): an international phenomenological study BMJ Open https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/bmjopen/10/8/e037705.full.pdf
2. Walters L, Couper I, Stewart RA, Campbell DG, Konkin J. (2021) The impact of interpersonal relationships on rural doctors’ clinical courage. Rural and Remote Health: 6668. https://doi.org/10.22605/RRH6668
3. Campbell D, Williams S, Konkin J, White I, Couper I, Stewart R, Walters L. New insights on rural doctors’ clinical courage in the context of the emerging COVID-19 pandemic. Can J Rural Med. Accepted 6/12/2022
Takeaways
1. Rural doctors juggle the tension between quality of care and access to care
2. Clinical courage involves a commitment to serve one’s community
3. Having a language, which describes our lived experiences, can sustain rural doctors’ community of practice and educate others outside the field.
2. Clinical courage involves a commitment to serve one’s community
3. Having a language, which describes our lived experiences, can sustain rural doctors’ community of practice and educate others outside the field.
Biography
Lucie Walters, PhD, MBBS (UoA), DCH, DRANZCOG, FRACGP, FACRRM is Director of Adelaide Rural Clinical School. Her experience in rural medical educational leadership spans across the continuum from vocational, and prevocational arenas to medical school longitudinal integrated clinical placements. She was instrumental in developing Australia's reputation for longitudinal integrated clerkships, contributing particularly to Flinders University, Otago University and University of Northern Ontario programs.
Lucie has worked as a rural generalist in Mount Gambier since 1993 with clinical scope during this time covering: general practice, emergency medicine and inpatient care. She currently works in Aboriginal health at Pangula Mannamurna. With a PhD in medical education, Lucie recognises the importance in educational scholarship and context relevant rural clinical research. She has demonstrated research expertise in the fields of work-integrated learning, adult education pedagogies, learner wellbeing, rural training pathways and workforce, and more recently rural health service research.
Luci is also inviting WONCA delegates to participate in the Doctors and Clinical Courage research survey. For more details and to complete this survey click here
