A teaching initiative to develop e-learning programmes for the surgical workforce in Sub-Saharan Africa has won the RCSI Education Innovation Award at the 2023 RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences International Education Forum.

The initiative was led by Ines Perić and Eric O’Flynn at the RCSI Institute of Global Surgery in the School of Population Health. Co-created with African and international partners, the programmes are the first online teaching for paediatric surgery and perioperative nursing with a focus on low-resource settings.

Professor Jan Illing, Professor of Health Professions Education and Director of the Health Professions Education Centre at RCSI, announced the winning innovation following presentations from 11 shortlisted initiatives made to a panel of judges at the event.

Eric Clarke, Centre for Professionalism in Medicine and Health Sciences and Meghan Gipson, Year 4 Medicine student received the runner-up prize for their initiative, 'A death café for medical students, let’s talk about death and dying', developed in collaboration with Valerie Smith from the Irish Hospice Foundation.

Resolving challenges

The awards took place as part of the 12th RCSI International Education Forum with this year’s theme, 'Looking Back, Looking Forward', reflecting on the educational achievements of the RCSI Strategic Plan 2018-2022 and considering plans for the next five years.

The programme included a guest lecture from Professor Phillip Dawson, Centre for Research in Assessment and Digital Learning (CRADLE) at Deakin University in Melbourne who addressed the topic, 'Academic Integrity in the Emergent Environment of Artificial Intelligence'.

Professor Hannah McGee, Deputy Vice chancellor for Academic Affairs, said: “The RCSI International Education Forum brings together staff members across the RCSI international community annually to discuss our education-focused ideas and innovations and to share our successes and resolve challenges.

“I congratulate the winners of this year’s RCSI Education Innovation Award which recognises the central importance of innovation in teaching and learning here at RCSI. Their initiative, and all the shortlisted projects, exemplify the innovative educational practice in medicine and health sciences education that we have at the university.”

Award finalists

Initiatives commended as RCSI Education Innovation Award finalists were as follows:

• Refining and streamlining digitally led learning in the post pandemic era, presented by Dr Chanel Watson and on behalf of Professor Tom O’Connor, School of Nursing and Midwifery
• Using simulation to cross professional boundaries in the chain of child safeguarding, presented by Michelle O’Toole and Dr Andrea Doyle, RCSI SIM
• Hiding in plain sight: CNS Moodle quizzes to warm up your neurons, presented by Dr Melanie Föcking, Department of Psychiatry
• Incorporating the sustainable development goals into the undergraduate medical curriculum; exploring staff and student insights, presented by Dr Sinéad Hurley, School of Population Health
• LIBRA: future proofing gender equality in higher education institutions (HEIs) – experiential learning for student leaders presented by Dr Claire Condron, RCSI SIM and on behalf of Michelle Scott, School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences
• Pharmacy technician-led dispensing clinics – empowering pharmacy students to develop core skills, presented by Tara Hayden and Louise Enright, School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences
• Implementing active learning (AL) in large scale lectures through use of peer instruction, presented by Dr Ahmad Soni, and on behalf of Dr Criona Walsh, Anaesthesia and Critical Care
• Using express-team-based learning to harness core medical professionalism values and behaviours, presented by Dr Áine Ryan and on behalf of Professor Denis Harkin and Dr Shaista Salman, Centre for Professionalism in Medicine and Health Sciences
• Interprofessional scrum: health promotion workshop for nursing and medical students, Dr Helen Cooper and on behalf of Dr Ali-Rose Sisk, RCSI Bahrain