Our voluntary Patient Engagement programme is a vital part of the innovative person-centred medical education at KMMS.

It is designed to provide high-quality learning experiences for our medical students to increase their understanding and awareness of the broad spectrum of lived experiences of patients and carers. We want our community to shape the training of these future doctors by bringing the voices of patients and carers into the heart of our programme.

Incorporating the patient and carer voice into the learning environment will make a difference to how people with medical conditions and disabilities are viewed, understood and treated by future doctors in the healthcare system.

 

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What does the Patient Engagement programme involve?

There are a number of ways Patient Educators are involved in the life of KMMS:

1. Patient Engagement Teaching Activities

These activities usually take place during a teaching session to support the learning topic and development of students’ skills:

• History Taking- students will take a medical history by asking a series of questions.
• Patient Narrative- Patient Educator gives an informal talk or is interviewed about their lived experience as a patient and or carer with a question-and-answer time, and/or group discussion.
• Physical Examination- students have the opportunity to practise physical examination of a particular medical condition (i.e. listening to heart murmurs), under the supervision of a clinical tutor.

Learn more about the Teaching Activities.

2. Patient Engagement Event Activities

These activities are designed to support our students during their assessments, and also to help recruit the next generation of doctors from schools and colleges in our community and beyond:

• Student Assessment days- helping to assess students under exam conditions; a mixture of history taking and physical examination.
• Widening Participation Activities for young people- be involved in online learning activities for 12- 19 year olds who have expressed an interest in studying medicine/healthcare.
• Admissions Interviewing – being involved in group interviews to assess applicants who would like to study at KMMS.

3. Patient Advisory Group

We have a Patient Advisory Group (PAG) made up of Patient Educators, KMMS staff and staff from Canterbury Christ Church University and Brighton & Sussex Medical School. The group meets during the academic year to help shape the training of future doctors to meet patients’ needs and regulations set by the General Medical Council.

 

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What Patient Educators say about being on the programme?

Danielle: “Being part of the journey of medical students, will ensure their future patients will have communicative, empathic and supportive doctors, especially when dealing with ethnic minorities, LGBTQ+, and other marginalised communities.”

Gary: “I am very much looking forward to being involved. The work would appear to be both interesting and worthwhile. I have enjoyed the interaction I have had so far with the students and staff. Having had a son who has been through a medical school I feel passionate about helping to support our new generation of doctors.”

Susan: “Having had the opportunity of talking to the new intake of students about my own personal medical journey and answering their questions, I believe it gave them a valuable learning opportunity. I find being a volunteer both exciting and worthwhile.”

 

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Students’ feedback on Patient Engagement in teaching sessions:

Isabella :“I really enjoyed this session as it was a chance to hear the qualities and characteristics that a former patient would like to see in a doctor, from those that helped and those that didn’t, and the differences between them. I thought it was a very brave thing to do and I admire her for telling us her story…”

Abdullah: “…  hearing from a personal background really motivates and moves you that there is a significance. It’s not just an academic thing you need to learn by literature, there are people suffering from inequalities and each person’s experience matters.”

Annie: “It’s been so important to hear about others’ experiences. It has been a really important opportunity to reflect.”

 

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How we support Patient Educators on the programme?

• A group induction session takes place either in-person or online with an accompanying induction pack and resources.
• Ongoing support for the Patient Educator role is provided by the Patient Engagement team and additional training as required.
• Reasonable travel expenses can be reimbursed to cover the cost incurred from travelling within Kent and Medway to KMMS for patient engagement activities.
• Refreshments are provided and dietary requirements are catered for.

 

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Where and when does the programme take place?

Teaching sessions are timetabled Monday- Friday 9am- 5pm during the medical school’s term time, across the various teaching buildings at both the University of Kent and Canterbury Christ Church University.

Some events and activities may take place outside of these day/hours.

 

Patient Educator Role

The voluntary Patient Educator role as a patient and as a carer is vital to the success of the programme.

For more information on how we use and store your data, you can access our Patient Engagement Programme Privacy Notice.

 

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Recruitment to the Patient Engagement Programme

Recruitment is currently only open to new Patient Educators who meet the requirements for student clinical assessments. Please check back for updates on when and how to apply.

If we have any other future openings in the Patient Engagement programme, we will post updates on this webpage.

 

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Meet the Patient Engagement Team

The Patient Engagement programme is led by one of our Senior Lecturers, Dr Tim Collins, who works with our Patient Engagement Coordinator, Lizzie Holland and Course Assistant, Charlotte Russell.

Patient Engagement contact details (generally Monday- Friday office hours):

Email: patientengagement@kmms.ac.uk

Telephone: 07522 620925 (please leave a voicemail with your name and contact details)