ABSTRACT
This chapter considers ideas for teaching some of the challenging areas of practice. Individual practitioners should link their clinical practice closely with research evidence, and must listen to the views of patients and the public with regard to healthcare system priorities. Promoting understanding about what the organisation requires will focus on making sure that the principles of good practice in the application of clinical governance are fulfilled in a coordinated way across the patch. Patients can be trained to become standardised patients–i.e., patients who have a specific condition and are taught to present themselves consistently to allow healthcare students or professionals to practise, or be assessed on, communication, diagnostic or examination skills. In order to develop patients as effective teachers, healthcare teachers must teach them to succeed when faced with presentations, meetings, focus groups, surveys, role playing and facilitation. Patient-teachers can help learners to appreciate the potential power imbalance that is created by the superior knowledge of the healthcare professional.
