Health and Work in Undergraduate Medical Education

Aims/Objectives/Background:

We will present on a project commissioned by Public Health England (PHE) to develop a set of online curriculum resources on health and work that will be universally available to all UK medical schools. The aim of the project is to improve the health and work dialogue between doctors of the future and patients.

Content of Presentation:

The presentation will outline the process of co-producing curriculum resources via partnership between healthcare professionals, patient and public involvement representatives, academics and national government organisations. We will then set out the planned approach for piloting the new resources at medical schools in England to take place in autumn 2019.

Relevance/Impact:

The resources will help new doctors use the fit note as a practical advice system as well as a process for sickness certification. The background to this work lies within the Government’s national vision to reduce health-related worklessness and help individuals achieve their work and health potential, which it set out in its command paper Improving Lives: the Future of Work, Health and Disability.

Outcomes:

The set of learning resources and teaching aids is intended to provide knowledge, tools and techniques to improve future doctors’ confidence to start conversations with patients around health and work and the ‘fit note’.

Discussion:

The presentation will focus on the contribution both patients and medical undergraduates representatives have provided, which has increased both the quality and rigour of the resources. The barriers and enablers encountered in piloting the resources in medical schools will also be discussed.