The Foundation for Medical Practice Education (FMPE) has awarded Dr. Clara MacDonald, an R1 in Victoria, with second place for the Practice-Based Learning Program (PBLP) Family Medicine Resident Award. This award recognizes outstanding scholarly projects by FM Residents around small group learning through research, quality improvement, and/or education program development.
Dr. MacDonald’s project brings validated psychological approaches to a difficult and pervasive topic in medicine. Fear of experiencing an adverse event creates anticipatory anxiety which has a negative effect on individuals and the health care system through reduced recruitment. The tools that have been developed are ideal for small group settings, such as the described narrative medicine group and PBLP. PBLP gives the opportunity for discussion and implementation through case studies integrating the important aspect of peer support, which is already informally present in PBLP activities. The lessons learned can be extended from residency to long-term effects on the health care system in terms of individual resiliency, team building, multidisciplinary relationships, mentorship and coaching, and mitigation of shame and blame medical culture.
Please join us in congratulating Dr. MacDonald on her outstanding project!