1. Hearing patients' voices in medical education and research
Arthur Mitchell Brownlow Memorial Lecture 2017
Tuesday 7th March, 12.30pm, Canada Room
Hearing patients' voices in medical education and research
Professor Angela Towle, University of British Columbia, Canada

2. In this lecture I will trace the evolution of patients as active participants in health care, education and research drawing on similarities and differences in the policy context in the UK and Canada, and my own work in facilitating the authentic and autonomous voices of patients, drawing on both research and practical experience.
Today’s interest in patients’ voices gained momentum in the 1990s. This was driven by advocacy for the ethical imperative of autonomy and accumulating body of research indicating that involving patients improve adherence to treatment regimens and outcomes of care. Governments exhorted citizens to take more responsibility for their health. Shared decision-making between doctor and patient became a topic of interest among researchers and educators.
This movement led me and colleagues at the University of British Columbia, Canada, to develop a set of competencies for the practice of informed shared decision-making. These provided a framework for teaching, learning, practice and research. I and others tried various educational interventions to help medical students, postgraduate trainees, and practising physicians engage patients in shared decision-making with little success. Although this was a widely supported ideal, research showed it rarely happened in practice. Among the barriers were a deficit approach to patients (as opposed to seeing them as active partners in care) and difficulty changing well-established patterns of communication. Underlying this resistance was a professional identity that does not encourage physicians to share power and responsibility.
This lecture will draw on my experience of bringing the voices of patients, caregivers, and community-based patient advocates to enrich the education of medical and other health professional students. I will explain how we introduce students to patients’ lived experiences and expertise at an early stage in their professional identity formation so they learn about patient-centered care with and from patients.
DATE 7th March 2017 TIME – 2.00pm VENUE Canada Room, Lanyon Building, Queens University Belfast Lunch is not provided but please feel free to bring your lunch with you. If interested please Deborah Millar at by Friday 24th February 2017, 5.00pm