Development and evaluation of a conflict management workshop for medical students

A random sample of students from the enrolled Doctor of Medicine Year 4 (MD4) cohort will be invited to take part in the study. The study will start with an online survey developed for this study directed at collecting demographic data, estimates of the frequency and degree of conflict experienced whilst on placement, and information about the extent to which these experiences affect the participant. It will also ask for a self-assessment of comfort and competence in dealing with conflict using Likert scales. It will use validated tools to measure baseline empathy, emotional intelligence, and conflict style. The survey will be administered through a link sent to the student's student email address. The surveys will take a total of approximately 15-20 minutes to complete. This data will be used to develop a four-part workshop on conflict resolution that addresses the needs of the cohort, drawing from a range of published/ well-recognised conflict management tools listed in the study proposal. The study will progress to an unblinded randomised controlled design, with the students who have done the survey being randomised into an intervention group and a control group. The intervention group will be invited to participate in four face to face workshops lasting up to 4 hours each, delivered by the members of the faculty who are experienced in workshop facilitation and have prior training and experience in each of the key areas (leadership, conflict, emotional intelligence). These will take place on the university campus. The workshops will be face to face and are likely to be interactive and involve role-playing activities with actors. The exact content of them and therefore how they are run will be determined by the survey results, so it is not possible to outline it at this time. The participants will not be involved in working groups, further interviews, or intervention design, however 2 members of the research team have just graduated from MD4 and will provide input. The workshop will be developed by the research team lead by Dr Kate Jutsum, and delivered by various members of the research team (who have experience in various of the related fields), and by external providers where necessary (for example, specific agencies who are able to supply actors, or have specialist training in areas that are highlighted in the survey as deficient, e.g. Emotional Intelligence). We expect to begin workshop development by the end of March (the surveys being completed by mid-March), and deliver the workshops in May-June. The students will be able to choose from workshops run at various times to suit their schedules. Attendance registers will be kept for all workshops. Examples of possible workshop content include: - For Emotional Intelligence (EI), simulation activities in which the student plays the patient, or structured education sessions in which the student receives feedback on their own assessed EI and how this could be strengthened - For Personal Wellbeing, a workshop on stress management - For Interpersonal relationships, and teamwork, simulation activities that involve interprofessional learning - For communication skills, a workshop on non-verbal communication.