Training activity information
Details
Discuss with your Training Officer/Workplace supervisor how your MSc project can be supported locally and may contribute to service delivery.
Type
Developmental training activity (DTA)
Evidence requirements
Evidence the activity has been undertaken by the trainee.
Reflection on the activity at one or more time points after the event including learning from the activity and/or areas of the trainees practice for development.
An action plan to implement learning and/or to address skills or knowledge gaps identified.
Reflective practice guidance
The guidance below is provided to support reflection at different time points, providing you with questions to aid you to reflect for this training activity. They are provided for guidance and should not be considered as a mandatory checklist. Trainees should not be expected to provide answers to each of the guidance questions listed.
Before action
What are the intended outcomes of the training activity?
- Consider the aims of discussing the local viability and service impact of the project.
- Review the learning outcomes related to this training activity, which include planning and preparing for a project to improve patient care, to help contextualise your preparation and focus your attention.
- What specific knowledge of local protocols, resource allocation, or departmental priorities do you need before embarking on the discussion regarding project support and service delivery?
What do you anticipate you will learn from the experience?
- Consider the specific insights you hope to gain from engaging with this critical discussion.
- What specific insights do you hope to gain regarding the feasibility and local capacity for executing the agreed MSc research question?
- Think about what you already know about the budgetary or staff constraints within your department that could influence project support.
- What assumptions about your project’s contribution to service delivery or improvement do you anticipate testing or confirming during this experience?
What actions will you take in preparation for the experience?
- Preparation involves planning how you will ensure a productive discussion to agree on local support and projected service impact.
- Discuss the training activity with your training officer/supervisor to gain clarity of understanding regarding their expectations for the project’s integration into the local service.
- Consider possible challenges you might face during the activity (e.g., if resources are denied or if the project’s clinical relevance is questioned) and think about how you might handle these potential challenges.
- Identify how you feel about embarking on this training activity—are you confident in mapping out required resources, or concerned about defining service contribution?
In action
What are you doing?
- As you discuss the requirements, are you paying attention to your approach, and are you clearly defining the resources (e.g., staff time, equipment access) needed for project execution?
- What decisions are you making regarding how to present the project’s clinical relevance to ensure it aligns with departmental priorities and planning or preparing a project to improve patient care?
- What aspects of your practice feel intuitive (e.g., articulating the project aims), and what requires more conscious effort (e.g., justifying the cost-benefit or resource request)?
How are you adapting to the situation?
- How are you adapting your approach based on feedback or guidance sought from your training officer/supervisor if they raise concerns about the project’s feasibility or local capacity?
- What challenges are you facing during this activity (e.g., pushback on required timelines, lack of clarity on specific service benefits), and how effective are your actions in achieving agreement on local support?
- Are you identifying and articulating specific gaps in current service provision that your project seeks to address, and how are you connecting this to your existing knowledge and skills?
On action
What did you notice?
- Begin by summarising the key points and outcomes of the discussion regarding project support and service delivery.
- What were the key elements of support (e.g., access to resources, personnel time, or data) that were agreed upon, and what specific issues regarding local capacity or service priorities required discussion?
- Were there any unexpected challenges or successes during the activity? What did you learn from these?
What did you learn from the activity?
- What skills (e.g., negotiation, resource mapping, or justification of clinical relevance) did you develop or improve during the process of discussing local support and service delivery?
- In what ways did your reflection-in-action (during the discussion) influence how the activity unfolded (e.g., did you adapt your pitch based on immediate feedback)?
What will you take from the experience moving forward?
- What specific actions or ‘next steps’ will you now take to secure the agreed local support or address any outstanding resource development areas identified?
- How can you apply the learning from this activity regarding service integration and resource justification to your routine practice?
- What support or resources might you need to further develop in the areas identified through this reflection (e.g., professional skills related to budget management or clinical stakeholder communication)?
Beyond action
Have you revisited the experiences?
- How has the experience of defining and justifying necessary local support contributed to your holistic understanding of the research project lifecycle in healthcare?
- How does the learning from this training activity relate to the wider requirement for evidence-based practice in healthcare, particularly when justifying resource allocation?
How have these experiences impacted upon your current practice?
- How have you applied the knowledge and developed your skills (e.g., in communication or stakeholder management) since the original discussion?
- How will the learning support you to develop skills for other training activities, such as writing reports or making presentations, where you must justify clinical investment?
How might these experiences contribute towards your future practice?
- Considering this training activity, how might you refine your approach to managing a project in your future career as a Clinical Scientist, particularly regarding aspects like time management and risk related to resource security?
- What strategies will you continue to employ in the future to ensure you efficiently and critically interpret the evidence base when evaluating innovations or public health issues?
- Identify clear actions for continued development of the skills introduced through this activity.
Relevant learning outcomes
| # | Outcome |
|---|---|
| # 2 |
Outcome
Plan and prepare for a project to improve patient care. |
| # 3 |
Outcome
Critically appraise the needs and drivers for a project |