Emergency decision making in the simulation settings

The deadline for 2012 Doctoral College Studentships has now passed.

The Brighton Doctoral College is pleased to welcome applications from self-funded or externally sponsored students for programmes of research in this or a closely related area, beginning from September 2012. Applications are welcome from students wishing to study full time or part time, and applications are welcome from students in employment who have the support of their employers.

• Based in the Faculty of Health and Social Science
• Supervisors: Professor Julie Scholes; Dr Nikki Petty.

Application deadline

The university cannot guarantee that students can start at their requested date unless deadlines are met.

• UK/EU students: The deadline for the university to receive applications for an entry date of October is the 1 August, for January entry it is the 1 November and for May it is the 1 March.
• International students: The deadline for the university to receive applications for an entry date of October is the 1 June, for January entry it is the 1 September and for May it is the 1 January.

Apply now.

Applications are invited for a three year PhD studentship to explore clinical emergency decision making in simulation settings based on the university's Falmer campus.

The successful candidate will work within the vibrant Pedagogy and acquired competence research cluster which examines the impact of learning, teaching and assessing in a wide range of contexts and areas of professional health care practice (including medical students, physiotherapists, as well as nursing and midwifery practitioners). The programme of research will determine how experienced and less experienced professionals make decisions in emergency scenarios, identify what capabilities underpin successful decision making and devise training programmes to help individuals acquire those capabilities. The approach uses video recordings of practitioners’ response to a rapidly deteriorating patient in the simulation setting inviting the reflexive account for the decisions they made in the scenario. Grounded theory to inductively build a substantive theory on the decision-making process frames the approach to studies in this area, but applicants can propose what type of emergencies and what group of practitioners they would wish to study.

Current research in this area includes Identifying deterioration in a simulated environment: testing of a pedagogic model – in association with the Pedagogic Research Institute and Observatory at Plymouth University. Completed research includes work done in association with Monash University in Australia (Dr Simon Cooper) and the University of Plymouth (Professor Ruth Endaacott). Five Doctoral students are currently working in this area. Please see here.

Professor Julie Scholes, has a significant publication record in the area of emergency decision making and would lead the supervisory team. Professor Scholes leads a Grounded theory forum that attracts wide membership from across the university. In line with the University’s aim to develop multidisciplinary knowledge the proposed supervisory team will be drawn as appropriate to the research plan from Dr Nicholas Smeeton (Chelsea School of Sport), his research and published work focuses on training anticipation and decision making skill in sport and facilitating and developing performance under pressure; Dr Nikki Petty (School of Health Professions) her research and publications focus on learning transition and observed practice and clinical supervision in developing clinical reasoning and expertise; and Dr Inam Haq (Head of the Medical Education Unit, Brighton and Sussex Medical School) his research and publications focus on methods of student learning.

References:

Scholes J, Endacott R, Biro MA, Bulle B, Cooper S, Miles M, Gilmour C, Buykx P, Kinsman L, Boland R, Zaidi F. (2012)  Clinical decision-making: midwifery students’ recognition of, and response to, post partum haemorrhage in the simulation environment. Submitted to: BMC Pregnancy and Birth www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2393/12/19

Find out more about research at the University of Brighton.