Mrs Michelle Hepworth
BA (Hons) Education & Training, RGN, Cert Ed
Clinical Medicine, School of Medicine and Population Health
Clinical Skills Educator
Multi-Professional Experience (MPE) Module Lead
Full contact details
Clinical Medicine, School of Medicine and Population Health
Northern General Hospital
Herries Road
Sheffield
S5 7AU
- Profile
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Following a career in nursing, I joined the University of Sheffield medical school as a full time Clinical Skills Educator in 2001. I work as part of a dynamic team of both clinical and academic staff. The remit of my role is supporting undergraduate Health Care Professionals; mainly Medical and Dental students but also Physician Associate and Nursing students. This includes the planning, development and delivery of clinical skills sessions appropriate to the needs of the students; utilising current research and evidence based practice. I am also involved with the planning and execution of the assessment of the taught skills; this is primarily in simulation utilising scenarios.
- Research interests
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- Preparedness of the student for clinical practice
- Human factors
- Feedback
- Teaching interests
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I have a special interest in the integration of communication skills within clinical skills practice and students’ early exposure to patients. I also enjoy helping students who have need of additional support. I provide supplementary, one-to-one teaching sessions that are planned and delivered according to the individual student’s requirements.
- Professional activities and memberships
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I am the module lead for Multi Professional Experience (MPE): Students have a two-week placement in an acute clinical setting in the second semester of their first year. The main aim of MPE is for the student to go out into the clinical area to observe and to work with different members of the healthcare profession (HCP) in an acute clinical setting. The students are instructed to learn about the different HCP roles and how they contribute to patient care. It is also for the student to meet patients and their families in an acute setting and learn about their conditions and how it affects their lives as well as considering the patient journey in hospital. Developing professionalism is a key principle of the Sheffield MBChB course. During MPE, students are encouraged to observe professional attributes in the staff and reflect on those in the context of the GMC guidelines (Duties of a Doctor in Good Medical Practice GMC 2013) and the Sheffield Code of Ethics. I also contribute towards the running of the Patient as Educators programme which involves the recruitment and training of patients who volunteer their time to help with the teaching and assessment of our students. The patients are involved with primary teaching of history taking and physical examination; they also assist with the teaching and assessment of clinical skills in simulation. We also run sessions called Patient Encounters where first year students, in their first semester, attend the clinical skills centre to meet patients to practice talking to and learn about the patient in preparation for their MPE placement. I am also involved with a venture with University Technical College, Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park. I am part of a team that participates in delivering teaching sessions involving Patients as Educators to the students from year 9 to year 13. The sessions complement the modules that the students are learning in their Health Sciences courses. To ensure I remain up to date with current practice, I seek continual professional development by liaising with colleagues in the clinical area, in various specialities; attending conferences and workshops; being involved with and participating in research and being an active member of the Yorkshire and Humber Clinical Skills and Simulation Network.