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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.
You can apply to join our programme if
- You have received or are receiving treatment for a long-term medical condition
- You have a disability
- You are neurodiverse
- You are a carer
- One or more of the above applies to you
What does the Patient Engagement programme involve?
There are a number of ways you can get involved:
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 your medical history by asking you a series of questions.
- Patient Narrative- you give an informal talk about your lived experience as a patient sometimes 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 learning activities for 12- 19 year olds who have expressed an interest in studying medicine.
- Open Day events- meeting prospective students and their families and speaking about your experiences on the Patient Engagement programme.
- Admissions Interviewing – being involved in interviews to assess applicants to see if they are suitable to study medicine at KMMS.
3. Patient Advisory Group
We are setting up a Patient Advisory Group (PAG), for which we will be asking volunteer Patient Educators to join to be part of shaping the training of future doctors to meet patients’ needs and regulations set by the General Medical Council.
What can you get from being part of the programme?
As a participant on this programme you will:
- Have the opportunity to shape the delivery of healthcare in the future by developing brilliant patient-centric new doctors.
- Meet new people and enjoy interacting with people from different backgrounds in a higher education environment.
To help support you on the programme we will offer:
- An induction training will be provided along with an induction pack to welcome you to KMMS.
- Ongoing support for your role as a Patient Educator provided by the Patient Engagement team and access to additional training, as required, to enable you to be equipped for, and comfortable with, the activities you choose to be involved in.
- Your travel expenses can be reimbursed to cover the cost incurred from travelling within Kent and Medway to KMMS for patient engagement activities and refreshments will be provided.
Where does the programme take place?
Teaching sessions are timetabled Monday- Friday 9am- 5pm during the medical school’s term time, across the teaching buildings at both the University of Kent and Canterbury Christ Church University.
Events such as Open days and Student Assessment days may take place outside of these hours at weekends or during university holiday times.
Supervised physical examination taking place
How to get involved and next steps
Discover more about the voluntary Patient Educator role as a patient and being involved as a carer.
For more information on how we use and store your data, you can access our Patient Engagement Programme Privacy Notice.
The best way to contact us and to submit any queries is to complete our Expression of Interest form, or scan the QR to access it.
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.
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)