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MEDICAL ASSISTANT COURSE

FOREST ROAD PRIMARY CARE CENTRE

SEPTEMBER 2017 – JUNE 2018

PORTFOLIO – JOANNE NEWMAN

WHITE LODGE MEDICAL PRACTICE

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CONTENTSThank you for providing a contents page, Jo, it is really helpful.

Medical Assistant Job Description ……………………………..........Pg 3-4

Navigating Challenges.........................................................Pg 5-10

Pathway Development........................................................Pg 11-12

Mini-Project ........………………………………………………….............Pg 13-19

Managing Information & Developing Self-Awareness..........Pg 20-29

Learning Log – Personally Useful Course Days……………….....Pg 30-31

Course Evaluation.....................................................................Pg 32

This is an excellent, well organised and well structured portfolio. Well done Jo!

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1a) MEDICAL ASSISTANT JOB DESCRIPTION

I have decided to write the Medical Assistant job description as though my practice is currently advertising the role. Amongst discussion with my fellow MA colleagues, we have realised that this is not going to be a 'cookie cutter' role – the needs of each practice varies greatly and what may work well in one will not necessarily suit another. I have based this on how I see the role working in my practice in line with current circumstances. Very well observed!

NEW AND EXCITING ROLE WITHIN PRIMARY CARE – GP SURGERY MEDICAL ASSISTANT JUNE 2018 – WHITE LODGE MEDICAL PRACTICE, 68 SILVER STREET, EN1 3EW

TEL: 0208 363 4156

White Lodge Medical Practice is based in Enfield Town and has been a home to doctors for over 100 years. Our clinical team is made up of eight GPs and four Practice Nurses, who consistently strive to deliver excellent medical care to our patients. We also have a very dedicated team of administrative staff who work behind the scenes (and on the front line) supporting doctors with various tasks and ensuring our patients' visits/calls to the Practice run smoothly.

We are seeking a driven, motivated and enthusiastic individual to join our non-clinical team as a Medical Assistant (MA). This is a very new and exciting role that will place the successful candidate at the heart of the Practice by ensuring provision of efficient care for all of our patients and vital support to our increasingly busy doctors.

As a Medical Assistant, the successful candidate will be expected to have a strong eye for detail and ability to multi-task. One of the most important aspects of the role is to oversee the daily correspondence that is sent to the Practice from other healthcare providers (including hospitals, district nursing, other primary care providers etc.). Paperwork takes up a large quantity of our doctors’ time, and the MA would be expected to alleviate some of this workload by exercising strong critical reading skills. The MA will closely analyse specific patient letters and be able to decipher what actions they can make as a non-clinical team member, and what actions need to be dealt with by one of the clinical team. The ability to use initiative is highly desirable, as there may be occasions where urgent correspondence is received and swift action is required - we expect our MA to respond in a timely manner whilst still considering the Practice protocols.

Another imperative skill for this role is the ability to communicate well. The MA will work very closely with the entire Practice team so it is very important that they possess the confidence to share

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ideas and concerns as and when they arise. Liaising with our doctors will be a daily occurrence – whether it be a query regarding a letter received, or perhaps the doctor would like the MA’s input/support in arranging something for a patient. As a result of this, the MA may regularly be in contact with other healthcare providers (such as hospitals, district nursing, mental health teams, results labs etc.) to ensure that patient requirements within the scope of the Practice are being met. On some occasions, it may be that the Practice requires the MA to contact other healthcare providers when it appears that they are not meeting contractual care requirements – in this instance politeness and impeccable professionalism are especially key skills to maintain good relationships, and ensure that speedy and efficient conclusions are met. The MA will, of course, be in regular contact with our patients and must be courteous and understanding at all times. Dealing with patient queries can often be challenging, and at White Lodge we operate an ‘If In Doubt, Ask’ policy that ensures none of our team ever have to guess what the right thing is. Whilst we pride ourselves on being a friendly team, there are times when a firm hand is required to wrap up an issue and ensure communications remain open for other patient queries – politeness and professionalism is at the very core of our approach.

We will provide fully comprehensive training for the role which will include the following:

- Four weeks' training with our Reception Team leads to get to grips with our telephone handling and patient communication protocols

- Weekly discussions with the Practice Manager and Reception Leads to assess progress/address any queries

- Allocation of a dedicated GP mentor – this will be one of our GPs, who will meet with the MA fortnightly to discuss queries/concerns.

- Induction booklets outlining all practice protocols - Enrolment in online training for medical terminology and clinical ideas

ESSENTIAL SKILLS/EXPERIENCE:

- Strong communication skills- Strong administrative experience- Previous experience in customer service (telephone or face-to-face)- Keen eye for detail- Proficient in the use of Microsoft Office Suite products (particularly MS Word and MS Excel)- Previous experience in a GP surgery or NHS healthcare setting

DESIRABLE SKILLS/EXPERIENCE

- Knowledge of EMIS Web and Docman software

This is a completely new role within the NHS, and we anticipate that it will continue to grow and offer valuable experience to anyone looking to move forward in the world of medical administration and non-clinical support. Please send a covering letter and your CV to our Practice Manager Alyson Hicks by email ([email protected]) or post by Thursday 14th June 2018 to be considered for this role.

Wow! Jo! This is written beautifully; it encompassing the complexity of this role.

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mailto:[email protected]

2a) NAVIGATING CHALLENGES

Select three letters that you found particularly challenging:

- What was difficult about each letter? Be specific about what made it challenging.

- Was it the language, the jargon, the way it was written?

- How did you resolve these issues?

Letter 1: NMUH Oncology

One letter I found particularly challenging was one from NMUH Oncology. This letter was very

comprehensive in terms of the patient’s relevant past medical history. There was a lot of medical

jargon about various different stages of treatment the patient had been given – I found it quite

difficult to interpret this volume of information, and work out what was actually relevant in terms of

coding. There were a lot of medical acronyms used and I wanted to ensure that I wasn’t missing

anything important.

I queried this letter with my mentor, who advised that the history shown was not relevant in terms

of coding, as a lot of it had happened in the past (dating back to 2015) and further treatment had

since been commenced. Nothing new had occurred or been diagnosed – I think I was most worried

about this letter due to the severity of this patient’s existing diagnosis. This was most certainly a case

of ‘If In Doubt, Ask'! You have demonstrated the ability to work collaboratively through this scenario.

Sometimes letters can be complex.

Letter 2: Chase Farm Gastroenterology

Another letter I found challenging was one received from Chase Farm gastroenterology. The letter

simply included a full set of blood results. I am aware that certain results are vital when monitoring

certain conditions, and some are just standard tests. This letter produced a very long list of bloods,

and I was unsure of what ones would be relevant for coding. Upon discussion with my mentor, he

advised that we are able to obtain these results electronically if necessary (as they are from Chase

Farm Hospital), so there was no need for any of them to be coded. In this instance I think I may have

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been reading too critically and over-thinking things! Very useful to find this out. You seem to have a

good relationship with your mentor.

Letter 3: Royal Free Nephrology

Another letter I found challenging was one received from Royal Free nephrology. Similarly to letter

two, there were a list of bloods included that threw me a little in terms of relevance. The font size of

the letter was quite small and the structure of it a little messy in comparison to other letters I have

analysed from Royal Free Trust hospitals.

When checking that the list of medications matched our own, there seemed to be a few

discrepancies. I compared this list with the patient's current and past medication list and discovered

that the hospital had slightly out of date information – presumably as she had not been seen there

for some time. This meant I spent a little longer on the letter than usual, but I was satisfied that I

managed to solve the discrepancy. You demonstrate a thorough, systematic approach to complex

letters, Jo.

*For Section 2b regarding actioning urgent letters, I am unable to provide work for this particular

part of the portfolio as I am yet to receive any letters that have required urgent action. At present,

I receive a random selection of letters and work through them – eventually I will have designated

letter types sent to me to deal with and have not yet been asked to deal with any urgent actions.*

.

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Navigating Challenges letters:

Letter 1:

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Letter 2:

These letters are very dense, well done for tackling them.

Letter 3:

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*PLEASE SEE FILE NAMED 'PATHWAY' IN

EMAIL ATTACHMENTS*

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2C) MY PATHWAY

The pathway I have created is based on my project for identifying non-workflow documents. I thought it would be very useful for the reception team to have additional guidance when sorting through letters. Whilst I have carried out quite detailed training with each member of the team, I feel it’s very important to have something visual to refer to – not just for the reassurance of the team, but to show that we as a practice are following a set protocol.Throughout the course, we have been looking at different pathways and analysing strengths and weaknesses in terms of their effectiveness for learning. For example, we found that portrait orientated pathways were quite crammed and hard to read – so I chose to make my pathway landscape so that options could be spread out and easily read. Pathways are - in particular - very beneficial for people who are visual learners, so I felt that by adding colour codes for the 'yes' and 'no' options would make it easier to follow and more engaging. Having to add in ‘yes’ and ‘no’ for each arrow would have made the pathway look messy and potentially too ‘busy’ – and in turn may just miss the point of the pathway completely and confuse the reader more. It has been strongly emphasised throughout the course that a pathway should be a resource that comprehensively but concisely explains a protocol, so that in theory a new staff member could use it to perform a new task and not feel too overwhelmed by it. I feel that my pathway includes a lot of detail concerning our practice protocols when it comes to documents - without appearing as an information overload. I enjoyed creating this pathway as it caused me to review all that I have learned so far in my role and throughout the course. At first I was a bit sceptical as to how useful a pathway could be, but now appreciate what a valuable tool they are – I fully intend to create more of these for different practice processes, and hope that eventually these can be added to the Receptionist Induction folder to benefit any future team members.

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3A/3B) MINI PROJECT

Earlier this year, I was invited to a meeting with our Practice Manager to discuss a potential process to alleviate the workload of our doctors in terms of Docman paperwork. Along with another colleague and our two Reception Leads, we discussed what sort of letters would be safely able to bypass a doctor’s inbox (‘non-workflowed’) and go straight onto the patient’s notes. All of our doctors are receiving an incredibly high volume of letters on a weekly basis which is may sometimes be preventing them from spending adequate time on other tasks.

The categories of letters that we identified and agreed with the doctors are as follows:

- Appointment letters – simple letters where the practice has been CC’d in, informing the patient of an appointment date and time. These letters contain no clinical information and the doctor has no need to be aware of the administrative aspect of hospital appointments.

- DNA (Did Not Attend) letters – letters where we are either CC’d in or informed that a patient has missed a hospital appointment and are subsequently being offered another one. We already have a protocol in place for patients who DNA and are discharged from the service, so it seemed unnecessary for the doctors to deal with paperwork where nothing really needed to be chased or verified. The only letters that are not included in this category are regarding missed 'two week wait' referrals – these are urgent and would be escalated to the relevant doctor to look into as normal.

- IAPT/Counselling letters – letters received from IAPT and similar counselling services more often than not contain no clinical information at all – they are nearly always a CC to the surgery. These letters mainly consist of requesting a patient to contact the service, informing them they are on a waiting list, informing them of an appointment date or outlining when a patient has decided to stop engaging with the service. All of these are simply ‘Information Only’ and are solely relevant to the patient – therefore they can safely be put straight onto their notes. Potentially, letters summarising a patient’s sessions with a counselling service are being considered for non-workflow, as some of them simply advise that symptoms have resolved. However, there may be more complex information in these letters that shouldn’t be bypassed - so that is an ongoing discussion.

- Physiotherapy letters – letters received from physiotherapy services that give very basic information; either regarding waiting lists, referral status and discharge notices. There is no action required in terms of waiting lists and referral status – as long as the practice has sent the referral on as necessary, most chasing is required to be done by patient unless there has been an error on our part. The discharge notices contain very simple checklists of a patient’s treatment e.g Lower back pain - attended six sessions - advice given – discharged back to GP. These letters are clearly from a generic template, and provide no useful clinical information for a clinician.

- Hub letters – the Enfield Hub out of hours service is frequently used by our patients, and we receive a fairly constant stream of consultation letters from these appointments. These particular letters can be quite long, but don’t necessarily contain useful information. With these letters, we decided that as long as no medication had been issued and nothing had been noted for the patient’s own GP to action, these could be non-workflowed. This service can refer patients and request blood tests, so this

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takes the strain off of Enfield practices to have to follow up from a consultation they were not originally part of.

- A&E and Urgent Care Centre letters – we receive a relentless amount of unscheduled care letters for our patients – and whilst some are very important, a lot of them contain very basic details of the visit pending further paperwork. The most obvious letters that fell into the non-workflow category are ones that state the patient did not wait to be triaged or seen by a doctor. Any letter that showed the plan was for generic ‘GP follow up’ have been categorised as non-workflow – unless any action or medication adjustments have been requested or made, there is no need for the doctor to see it.

I was tasked with devising a way to set the non-workflow process up and subsequently train the other members of the reception team on how to deal with and identify the letters. I felt the best way to do this would be to create example folders showing exactly what kind of letters we are trying to filter out. I was able to perform a Docman search to trace some specific letters to redact and add to the training files.

My mentor Dr Patel was interested in the concept of the project, and made me realise early on that I had to consider having safety nets in place. It gave me a more realistic perspective that regular monitoring is absolutely key and solid protocols need to be in place to protect the project from human error. It is absolutely vital to have lots of supporting resources in this new venture to ensure that patient safety is not compromised. I understand the weight of this task, as if a letter is incorrectly identified as a non-workflow this could prevent essential information from getting to a doctor. This is why it was discussed at the very beginning of the project that regular random monthly manual audits would be carried out to ensure that non-workflow was being sent correctly. The course has thoroughly instilled the ‘If In Doubt, Ask’ mantra into my working life – so it was made abundantly clear that absolutely ANY doubt that anyone had about a letter should be queried. In the early stages of such a change, it is imperative that any inconsistencies and doubts are recognised and addressed.

Here I will include screen shots of the explanatory list of non-workflow letters and cover sheets I created for the folders:

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This is a very worthy undertaking. You have given much thought to planning it.

All of the reception team received a print out of the checklist, and I created three folders so that each reception area had easy access to the non-workflow information, as Docman filing is done throughout these areas and by every member of the reception team.

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In terms of training, I got final approval on the folders from my Reception Leads and Practice Manager and began individually discussing with each reception team member what the new protocol was. I made sure I took the time to sit and go through it in detail whilst asking my colleagues to let me know of any uncertainty either at that time or later on if a query arose. Whilst at first the idea of spending more time looking at letters was not appealing to some of the team, the prospect of eventually having happier doctors (with more time to look after their patients!) was a welcome one. I ensured that I got each colleague to sign off that they had been through the folder with me as a safeguard for any potential future problems, to prove that the training had been carried out and that it was was satisfactory for my colleagues. I was then able to roll out the folders and inform the team of the roll out through a general EMIS task.

Once a couple of weeks had passed with the non-workflow system in place, it was time to start analysing whether or not it was making a real difference to doctor's workloads. At my practice, I have the responsibility of drawing up weekly ‘Workflow’ tables for the reception team, so that everyone is aware of any doctor absence and where their correspondence should be directed. I found this came in very useful when I started to analyse how well the non-workflow was working in terms of reducing paperwork numbers. On days when some doctors are away, the letters are either distributed between the doctors who are in that day or sent to whoever is the AM/PM duty doctor. I understood that this may have an effect on the numbers I was monitoring and took this into account when reviewing the figures (e.g one doctor may have received 56 letters one week, and then 92 the following as they had more than one duty session).

To monitor the document numbers, I created new inboxes within Docman and set the dates to weekly intervals:

This made it easy to see exactly how many letters each doctor was receiving. I created inboxes for several weekly intervals and compared the figures to a week back in March (pre-non workflow!) when all doctors were in and receiving their own letters. The following page shows a breakdown of figures and, in general, I believe it shows a steady downward trend in number of documents.

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The following screen shots show the monitoring tables I have created on Excel:

The red box highlights a standard week of workflow receipts before the non-workflow process was introduced. The green boxes highlight the weeks where the non-workflow process had been rolled out. I have circled the document numbers next to each GP initial to indicate how many were received for that week. Ticks indicate whether the GP had a session and the crosses indicate when they did not. 'DD' stands for ‘duty doctor’ – this is relevant to the count as sometimes the duty doctor will receive post for doctors who are absent. So in theory, if a doctor had two duty sessions in a week, the likelihood of their document numbers rising is more likely and should be taken into account when measuring the effectiveness of the non-workflow process.

The non-workflow process was launched on the 24th April – here we can see that numbers were not drastically reduced compared to the week commencing 19th March, as a lot of GPs were taking annual leave, so duty doctors were getting a higher volume of post.

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The week commencing the 30th April shows a satisfying reduction in comparison to the week commencing 19th March. On this week, only one of the GPs was off so the strain on the duty doctors' document count was less. Both doctors HG and NA had two duty sessions over the week, and their post numbers were roughly the same as a week without double duty sessions.The Bank Holiday obviously affected the numbers on the week commencing 7th May as there was an entire day without any Docman filing. For most of the week the doctors were receiving their own post, bar Thursday and Friday where one GP was off. The numbers are comparatively lower than week commencing 19th March.

The week commencing 14th May shows higher numbers - nearly matching or slightly exceeding that of the week commencing 19th March. This could be due to the fact that one of the GPs was off the entire week, hence increasing the duty doctor workload. The week commencing the 21 st May shows varying increases and decreases in document number compared to the week commencing 19 th March. I also noticed that on week commencing 21st May, the numbers as a whole had dropped significantly compared to the previous week.

After analysing five weeks’ worth of non-workflow actions, I have noticed that the document numbers for each doctor are slowly decreasing, but I still have a fair bit of work to do to keep this consistent. Whilst I have been able to select a decent amount of letter types to be non-workflowed, there are probably many more. I have asked my colleagues to look out for other letters they feel may be suitable to add to the training folders, as well as keeping an eye out for myself.

I feel that five weeks has provided a reasonable time frame in which to measure progress. I am intending to approach my Practice Manager in the next couple of weeks to potentially arrange to step into one of the clinical meetings and ask the doctors myself how they think the process is going. I would like to hear first-hand if they are noticing a drop in workload, or if perhaps they have further suggestions for more letters or any tweaking to the protocol.

This project demonstrates and attention to detail and a systematic approach to managing and interpreting data.

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3C) How does my project adhere to the SMART framework?

SPECIFIC – The project was planned with a set goal in mind with clear outlines and training resources created to target my desired outcome – to reduce the mass of paperwork our doctors receive on a daily basis.

MEASURABLE – I was able to utilise the administrative settings of the Docman software to create detailed information on each doctor's weekly workload – and analyse the trend of the numbers over a longer period of time.

ATTAINABLE – I received a lot of support from all members of the practice team as the goal of the project would eventually result in a smoother working environment for all. My main challenge was most certainly certain reception colleagues feeling hesitant to make the decision on non-workflow letters. They also felt concerned that it would add a lot more time to their scanning work – a concern that is highly valid. However, with any new change resistance is likely, and I think I was able to discuss the pros and cons with them and conclude that in the long run it would make our lives as receptionists easier (i.e less stressed doctors!). My mentor was initially sceptical about the project and the aspect of safety, but the introduction of random audits and the ‘If In Doubt Ask’ policy has covered this area of concern.

RELEVANT – This project is highly relevant to my role as an MA. In a nutshell, an MA is on hand to make a doctor’s life easier when it comes to the clerical side of patient care. This project has implemented a change that engages all of the reception team in actively working to reduce a doctor’s workload. In turn, this will make the transition into the MA role a bit easier as some of the simpler aspects of it are being delegated into a team effort.

TIMELY – This project was in the planning stages from about February 2018. Myself and my colleague Maggie had time to slowly syphon letters into non-workflow categories and seek approval from the doctors and Practice Manager. This meant that by April, the non-workflow folders for the reception team were fully comprehensive and ready to use immediately. In reality, this project is much like the MA role in the respect that it will be constantly evolving. As time goes on, more letters will become irrelevant for the doctors and continue to reduce their workload.

Excellent Jo, you have worked so hard on this project and presented it very well.

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4) Managing Information and Developing Self Awareness

4a) Building a log of practice and proficiency:

List and log five clinical letters you have actioned.

Letter 1: Barnet Hospital Ambulatory Care

Details: Note specific details: What was easy/ tricky?

What did you learn, what was new?

Who is the letter to? To the GP N/A N/A

Who is the letter from? A consultant from the

Ambulatory Emergency Care at

Barnet

N/A N/A

What is the specialty? Scheduled ambulatory care N/A N/A

Is it urgent or routine? Routine N/A N/A

What is the diagnosis? Unprovoked right leg DVT (deep

vein thrombosis)

Spotting the new

diagnosis!

N/A

Which clinical ideas needed

coding?

Diagnosis of DVT N/A N/A

What else needs coding? N/A N/A N/A

Any /tests/ results/

referrals?

Yes - urine dip repeat and

request for GP to review pt's

mole.

N/A That for urine dip pt

ideally needs to come in

for appt rather than

have test paperwork

produced

Were you able to arrange

these tests/ referrals?

Yes - will contact the pt to book

in for a review for both urine

dip and mole

N/A N/A

Any change of meds? Yes - pt was started on

Rivaroxaban 15mg with a

change to 20mg after 3wks.

Flucoxacillin stopped.

This was easy as I simply

had to highlight this and

send back to the GP

N/A

Did you ask the GP/ another

clinician

Yes - to ask whether paperwork

was needed for urine dip

N/A N/A

Any other action? N/A N/A N/A

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LETTER 1:

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Letter 2: Barnet Hospital Ambulatory Care

Details: Note specific details:

What was easy/ tricky?



Who is the letter from? Ambulatory Emergency

Care clinic at Barnet

N/A N/A

What is the specialty? Scheduled ambulatory care N/A N/A


What is the diagnosis? No diagnosis made N/A N/A


coding?

None! N/A N/A

What else needs coding? Bloods - but can obtain

these via internal system

on T-Quest

N/A N/A


referrals?

Yes - department

requested GP repeated her

bloods in 1-2 weeks

Understanding exactly which

bloods were required

That the bloods

required are FBC, CRP,

U&E and LFT



Yes Creating the form and

informing the patient to

collect and book test

N/A

Any change of meds? No N/A N/A


clinician

Yes - about the required

bloods

N/A N/A

Any other action? I will build a glossary of

essential bloods so that I

know what tests are

needed for which

diagnoses/symptoms

N/A N/A

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LETTER 2:

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Letter 3: Moorfields Ocular Oncology





Who is the letter from? Ocular Oncology at

Moorfields Eye Hospital

(file under oncology)

N/A N/A

What is the specialty? Treatment of cancers of the

eye (ocular oncology)

N/A N/A


What is the diagnosis? Left eye conjunctival

melanoma

This diagnosis was existing

and already coded

N/A


coding?

Both excisional biopsies

The intraocular eye

pressures

N/A N/A

What else needs coding? N/A N/A N/A


referrals?

Nothing requested N/A N/A



N/A N/A N/A

Any change of meds? Yes, however it appears

that the consultant has

prescribed the required

amount for the patient,

removing any action for the

GP

N/A N/A


clinician

I asked the GP if it was

necessary to code the

melanosis result, he

advised it was not as the

main conjunctival

melanoma diagnosis was

sufficient

N/A N/A


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LETTER 3:

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Letter 4: Chase Farm Gastroenterology





Who is the letter from? Gastroenterology at Chase

Farm

N/A N/A

What is the specialty? Treatment of

symptoms/conditions

involving the digestive

system - gastroenterology

N/A N/A


What is the diagnosis? No new diagnosis - this

patient has previously been

diagnosed with ulcerative

colitis

N/A N/A


coding?

N/A N/A N/A

What else needs coding? N/A N/A I learned that it is not

necessary to code

bloods from RF trust

hospitals as we can

access them via T-Quest

to save time


referrals?

None requested - this was

simply to inform of blood

results

N/A N/A



N/A N/A N/A

Any change of meds? No N/A N/A


clinician

Yes - re whether to code

bloods or not

N/A As above

Any other action? No N/A N/A

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LETTER 4:

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Letter 5: Royal Free Nephrology





Who is the letter from? Nephrology at Royal Free

Hospital

N/A N/A

What is the specialty? Diagnoses/symptoms

relating to the kidneys

I had to double check the

specialty! Yes good to check

we have not covered much

nephrology in class

That nephrology is

relating to kidneys


What is the diagnosis? No new diagnoses made -

ensured listed diagnoses

were coded

Working out what the

existing diagnoses meant and

if they were coded/necessary

for coding

The significance of the

existing diagnoses


coding?

Existing diagnoses

The majority of the bloods

bar HCO3 and Bili

Working out the necessary

bloods for coding

N/A

What else needs coding? Blood pressure reading N/A N/A


referrals?

Nothing requested - the

consultant has arranged it

all

N/A N/A



N/A N/A N/A

Any change of meds? No I noticed that there were

discrepancies in the

medication list on this letter

and the current/past info we

hold for the patient

That the hospital

seemed to have an out

of date medication list

for the patient - checked

this via the past/current

meds list for any

issues/stoppages

evidence of critical

reading


clinician

Yes RE the bloods N/A N/A


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LETTER 5:

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BRIEF LEARNING LOG - COURSE DAYS THAT I FOUND EXTREMELY HELPFUL:

One of the most useful sessions I recall from the course was on the second session in October 2017. We did a lot of work on basic clinical ideas and the way this was taught has stuck in my mind. The session was very interactive, and I particularly remember that we were all given a card with a part of the digestive system written on it, and then had to arrange ourselves in a line in order of where the organs were e.g mouth at the front, rectum at the end! We also covered the finer details of diabetes - such as how to interpret HbA1C levels and what other blood tests are used to diagnose and monitor the condition. Another subject covered was that of strokes/brain issues and the different categories of them, such as transient ischaemic attacks (TIA), cerebral vascular accident (CVA) and aneurysms.The clinical ideas are really very important to the medical assistant role as it makes analysing the letters a lot easier. Before the course, a lot of the terminology I read within letters seemed like clinical jargon, but now I feel more confident in recognising certain acronyms and understanding the significance of the clinical content.

The session when we were assessed via role play was very helpful and eye-opening. This came further along in the course and gave us a chance to practice what we had learned. Part of the medical assistant role will be to introduce new ideas to our practices, and this exercise put the pressure on to face our fears and present ourselves to a 'practice manager'! I went in initially quite nervous as it had been a long time since I had been assessed and was worried that I would not know what to say. I was quite pleased with how I answered most of the queries from our fictional practice manager, and it made me realise what pressure can do to me. At times, rather than just answer honestly as if I were in my own practice, I exaggerated my skill set to the actor - I forgot that this role is all about checking yourself and asking if you have any doubt! My feedback from this assessment was very positive and gave me a great boost - I feel that I could now approach my own practice manager and request a meeting with the doctors to present my ideas! You clearly have well developed communications skills and this gave you an opportunity to demonstrate them. I am glad this increased your confidence!

One other exercise that has stuck with me is the one where we had to read the 'Ugli Oranges' story and practice our negotiating skills. It was a lot of fun pretending to be one of the so-called doctors who were trying to state their case as to why the Ugli oranges were much more important to their projects. When we launched into a discussion about it afterwards, it highlighted that just a slightly more careful analysis of the story would have made the negotiations much easier. Being an MA is all about reading between the lines and spotting the finer details, and this exercise certainly showed how easy it could be to miss something!

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The penultimate session of the summer term was great for building teamwork and communication skills. We were tasked with organising and planning a fictional event and my group had to plan a stag/hen weekend for 25 people. It was interesting to see how everyone bounced ideas around and took everyone's thoughts into consideration and demonstrated what a productive team meeting should look like in the workplace. Presenting the idea to the group after felt quite easy - I have always been quite hesitant to put myself forward to present, but for the first time during this course I felt confident and at ease. Also, the critical reading we did in this session was insightful and allowed me to hone in on any gaps in my confidence in this area. Fantastic, you are demonstrating professional development and insight.

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EVALUATION OF THE COURSE

This medical assistant course has been a complete eye opener to me and I have really enjoyed the experience. The tutoring has been very interactive and engaging and I feel as a group we bonded very well. I am relatively new to the NHS so it did seem very daunting to begin with, especially as a lot of people in the group had much more experience and knowledge than me. The tutors made it fun, and instilled a solid confidence in us from day one. No question was too silly and every query was answered in great detail - communication with the tutors was always open between sessions so if you'd forgotten to ask something there was always an opportunity to do so. The resources created for us have been a great help...particularly the Growing Glossary, which I imagine will continue to grow once the course has finished, as there are a lot of acronyms and clinical terms that we may not have covered yet!I went into this course very unsure of what to expect - for a little while it did seem a little unclear as to what the intended outcome would be once qualified, but then it became obvious that this role cannot be specifically defined. It will vary from practice to practice, and it has been useful to discuss with other members of the group what they do in their practices and where they see themselves going with the knowledge and experience gained.At times the structure of the course was a little weak - we were always made aware of what was due to come in the following sessions and sometimes it changed which could be slightly disconcerting. But the content that was delivered was always lively and engaging and we could not have had more friendly and enthusiastic tutors. It has been great to be taught by a set of experienced clinicians - and I do hope that the lines of communication will remain open once we have all qualified!This is obviously the first course of its kind and there is a lot of scope for development and expansion. It has instilled a new confidence in me and I feel certain that I can embrace this role and shape it to suit not only my current practice role, but any future roles I pursue in the NHS. I know that I can take what I have learned and forge a rewarding and positive career for myself, as well as potentially helping others by training them in some of the skills I've developed.

I will really miss attending the sessions, and want to thank all of the tutors for their dedication and unwavering support for the last nine months! I would recommend this course to anyone looking to expand their horizons within NHS non-clinical administration!

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Thank you Jo for the lovely feedback. We felt privileged to be offered the opportunity to run this course and meet you all!

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