1. Research cultures and how
they differ between medicine
and medical education
Dr Rola Ajjawi
Centre for Medical Education

2. *Creating enabling research
cultures (for clinicians) in
medical education
Dr Rola Ajjawi
Centre for Medical Education

3. My research journey

4. CME research structures

5. Objectives
1. Explore your experiences and journeys transitioning
into medical education research
2. Understand the differences between medical/clinical
and medical education research cultures
3. Analyse the characteristics of ‘good’ research cultures
in medical education and barriers to this
4. Discuss your recommendation for helping develop
medical education researchers

7. Or (perhaps) worse…
Quality
 Enthusiastic faculty who lack theoretical and
methodological background in social sciences and
education
(Albert 2007; Shea et al 2004)

8. Activity 1: Your research
journeys?
1. Tell your buddy about your research journey
2. Consider your ‘transition’ into medical education
research
 Why did you do it?
 What were you anxious about?
 What surprised you?
 What scared you?
 What comforted you?

9. Group feedback – transitions
into medical education research

10. What is organisational culture?
Culture manifests on three levels
ranging from easily observable
artefacts, to espoused beliefs and
values, to the underlying assumptions
that are unconsciously taken for
granted by organisational members
(O’Brien 2013)

11. Definition of research cultures
In the context of research
cultures, consider:
 How work gets completed in
the organisation
 What knowledge is valued
 Creation of settings or
contexts that bring people
together for interaction
(Wilkes & Jackson 2013)

12. Activity 2: characteristics of
research cultures Med vs MedEd
1. Consider the 3 consideration outlined before in the
context of medical research and medical education
research.
2. What are the similarities (if any)?
3. What are the differences (if any)?

13. Group feedback – medicine vs
medical education

14. Definition of enabling research
culture
Enabling research culture
involves an organisation
constructing an environment
that enables and supports
creative work to generate new
knowledge and that provides
researchers with opportunities
to interact and grow
(Wilkes & Jackson 2013)

15. Characteristics of enabling RCs
 Research productivity (or a productive environment
for research)
 Positive collegial relationships
 Inclusivity and non-competitiveness
 Effective research processes and training
(Wilkes & Jackson 2013)

16. Activity 3: characteristic of RCs
 Discuss with your peer your enabling and less
enabling research experiences.
 Agree on three characteristics of an enabling
research culture in Medical Education
 What are the barriers to fostering these?

17. Group feedback –
characteristics of enabling RC

18. Barrier #1: Problems of episteme
Constructing medical
education as a social
science (Monrouxe &
Rees 2009)
Imperative of proof vs
imperative of
understanding (or
emancipation?)
(Regehr 2010)

19. Barrier #2: Theory –
underused, complex and
valuable organised, coherent, and systematic
“a theory is an
articulation of a set of issues that are
communicated as a meaningful whole” (Reeves et
al. 2008, p. 633).

20. Barrier #3: Ethics & sledgehammer
(Pugsley & Dornan 2007)

21. Barrier #4: Recognition & reward
 Of 31 biomedical scientists: 8 receptive, 7 ambivalent
and 16 unreceptive towards social sciences
(Albert et al. 2008)

22. Activity 4: Recommendations
 What are your top 3 recommendations for improving
research cultures in medical education for:
 Clinicians transitioning into medical education research
 Medical education research supervisors
 Organisations/centres

23. Group feedback –
recommendations

24. Conclusions
http://www.flickr.com/photos/blumpy/325853852/

25. Readings
 Bunniss, S., & Kelly, D. R. (2010). Research paradigms
in medical education research. Medical
Education, 44(4), 358-366.
 Crotty, M. (1998). The Foundations of Social
Research: Meaning and perspective in the Research
Process. Sydney: Allen & Unwin.
 Regehr, G. (2010). It’s NOT rocket science: rethinking
our metaphors for research in health professions
education. Medical Education, 44(1), 31-39.

26. References
 Albert, M., Laberge, S., Hodges, B. D., Regehr, G., & Lingard, L. (2008). Biomedical
scientists' perception of the social sciences in health research. Social Science &
Medicine, 66(12), 2520-2531
 Albert M. Research in medical education: Balancing service and science. Advances
in Health Sciences Education 2007;12:103-115
 Crotty M. The Foundations of Social Research. London: Sage; 1998
 Hodges, B., & Kuper, A. (2012). Theory and practice in the design and conduct of
graduate medical education. Academic Medicine, 87(1), 25-33
 Monrouxe LV & Rees CE (2009). Picking up the gauntlet: constructing medical






education as a social science. Medical Education, 43(3): 196-198
O’Brien, J. (2013). Conceptualizing the Research Culture in Postgraduate Medical
Education: Implications for Leading Culture Change. Journal of Medical
Humanities, 1-17
Pugsley, L., & Dornan, T. (2007). Using a sledgehammer to crack a nut: clinical ethics
review and medical education research projects. Medical Education, 41(8), 726-728
Regehr, G. (2010). It’s NOT rocket science: rethinking our metaphors for research in
health professions education. Medical Education, 44(1), 31-39.
Reeves, S., Albert, M., Kuper, A., & Hodges, B. D. (2008). Why use theories in
qualitative research? BMJ, 337.
Shea, J. A., Arnold, L., & Mann, K. V. (2004). A RIME Perspective on the Quality and
Relevance of Current and Future Medical Education Research. Academic
Medicine, 79(10), 931-938
Wilkes, L., & Jackson, D. (2013). Enabling research cultures in nursing: insights from a
multidisciplinary group of experienced researchers. Nurse Researcher, 20(4), 28-34

27. Thank you!
 ASME EDG travelling fellowship 2013
 To everyone at CHES & to you for participating
Email: r.ajjawi@dundee.ac.uk
Twitter: @r_ajjawi

28. http://tarynvoget.com/2010/06/01/thegenius-of-cartoonist-gary-larson/