A Schwartz Rounds Curriculum By Medical Students, For Medical Students

Context:
Schwartz Rounds (SR) is a live forum for healthcare providers to participate in honest and vulnerable discussions about their experiences providing patient care. Each SR session is focused on a central theme and involves one or more panelists sharing personal experiences, followed by a facilitated group discussion in which attendees are encouraged, but not required, to reflect on what was said and share their own experiences.
A comprehensive review of SR found that SR significantly improved the psychological wellbeing of healthcare workers. While SR for medical students is a relatively new concept, several pilot studies have shown positive feedback from students when comparing SR to traditional methods of reflection. Additionally, implementing SR for medical students may help to increase empathy and compassion for colleagues and patients.

Objectives:
Our objective is to implement a Schwartz Rounds curriculum planned and facilitated by trained medical students with mentorship from experienced members of a Schwartz Center affiliate site. We intend to provide students with an opportunity for productive self-reflection during their transition from preclinical years to clerkships that is targeted to their specific needs.

Description of Innovation:
Three SR sessions were conducted at JABSOM. The planning committee for these sessions consisted of 5 medical students and 3 SR faculty from the Queen’s Medical Center. Each session was facilitated by 2 students from the planning committee, and 2 other students were invited prior to the sessions to share experiences. All 3 sessions were conducted within the same medical school class, in the transition from 2nd into the 3rd year. Feedback was obtained via an adaptation of an evaluation form from the Point of Care Foundation. Attendance and completion of the feedback form were voluntary. The feedback form was anonymous.

Evaluation of Innovation:
The 3 sessions had 12, 13 and 22 attendees respectively, with 13 feedback responses. Overall, sessions received 6 ratings of “Exceptional,” 6 “Excellent” and 1 “Good.” Twelve of 13 respondents completely agreed with 4 statements: “The group discussion was well facilitated,” “This discussion helped with my personal insight and self-reflection,” “I would attend Schwartz Rounds again,” and “I would recommend Schwartz Rounds to classmates.” One “neither agreed nor disagreed” to all 4 statements. For two prospective outlook statements: “I have new insights into the perspectives and experiences of my classmates'' and “I have gained insight that will help me to take care of patients,” 11 of 13 completely agreed; 1 neither agreed nor disagreed and 1 agreed somewhat with each statement. Responses to “I feel more open to expressing thoughts, questions and feelings with my classmates'' were mixed, with 9 of 13 completely agreeing, 2 agreeing somewhat and 3 neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

Discussion/Key Message:
To our knowledge, our pilot study is the first to implement SR in a “by medical students, for medical students” format, whereby trained medical students developed the SR content with faculty mentorship and independently led the SR sessions. One of the key aspects of SR is that it provides a space where individuals can be emotionally vulnerable, and we believe that removing the hierarchical distinction between facilitators and participants helps to achieve the desired environment.

Target Audience:
All medical students in preclinical or clinical years.

Three key words/phrases (not part of character count):
Wellness, compassion, student-run