A Day in the Life of an Education Fellow at the Centre for Sustainable Healthcare

Dr Rosie Spooner, a Paediatric Trainee (St5) in Severn Deanery joined our team as a QI Education Fellow from 2020-2021. Learn about her role working with universities and postgraduate education programmes to support the integration of sustainable healthcare into Quality Improvement teaching.

What was your job? 

My job role is to promote the inclusion of sustainability in quality improvement education for undergraduate medical students, postgraduate doctors and other health professionals. Aside from the core teaching commitments involved this role allowed for a lot of creativity in order to achieve its aim. 

I have also be able to design a website (using Wix), deliver online workshops, use online collaborative tools, lead webinars, contribute to podcasts and write opinion pieces about sustainable healthcare education as well as learn about educational theory and research.

The main research element of the job is still in progress but working alongside an experienced team from a range of disciplines allows you to gain skills not routinely taught in medical training but hugely useful. 

Why would you as a clinician take time out of clinical practice to do this role?

In my personal life I made lots of changes to reduce my personal environmental footprint but felt that was limited in its impact and I wanted to find out more about how to help at a systems level. This is the perfect way to learn about practical changes that can help the NHS to reach its Net Zero target. It also an inspiring and exciting area which I believe will be a key part of health system design and delivery in the future. 

What was rewarding?

The biggest reward in this role is feeling that you have empowered others with the knowledge and skills required to make sustainable changes in their workplaces . Aside from the structured teaching on the theory of sustainability and quality improvement the role involves engaging and mentoring of practical projects apply these skills. At the beginning this was challenging as I needed to understand the framework myself but I now feel confident in these skills. Finally I feel hopeful for the future thanks to the enthusiasm and positivity of many of those participating, from medical students to senior consultants, this is a topic that engages and motivates them all. 

What was unexpected?

I didn't expect to deliver all the teaching online which has been hard at times (I don't like looking at screens for too long) but there were unexpected benefits to doing so. I have been able to deliver workshops internationally which probably wouldn't have been possible prior to the Covid Pandemic as there has been a steep learning curve in online workshop delivery. 

How has it changed you?

Its been great to be able to structure my own time and learning needs, I feel I have learned a lot about communication, behavioural change and education and will take this learning back to my clinical role. 

What are the perks of the job?

Free yoga classes weekly, being off the on-call rota, no night shifts (unless you didn't have time to write a presentation during the day) and amazing team of people to work with.

We're hiring! QI Education Fellow 2021-22

If you would like to join our team as our 2021-22 QI Education Fellow, you can access the job description and application details, here.