The influence of clinical practice video on learning conversations in postgraduate medical education: A scoping review

Abstract

ntroduction: Studies of learning conversations in medical education suggest these interactions can be supervisor driven, monologic and may involve poor recall of events. Educators often use camouflaged comments to avoid upsetting learners, which can interfere with meaning making. Using video of clinical practice within learning conversations could address some of these potential limitations. Despite educators using video of clinical practice in learning conversations for decades, we could find no synthesis of empirical studies to provide insight into the influence of video in learning conversations. Therefore, we conducted a scoping review to answer the question “How does video of clinical practice influence learning conversations in post-graduate medical education?”

Methods: We employed a scoping review methodology. MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO and ERIC databases were searched for articles from 1 January 2010 to 1 January 2022. Major inclusion criteria were postgraduate medical learners and video of clinical practice that was used in a learning conversation. The qualitative data relating to video’s influence on learning conversations were synthesised and thematically analysed.

Results: Five articles were included in the synthesis. We generated four themes from the qualitative data about the influence of video on the learning conversation. Video: (1) captures performance data that can be co-analysed, (2) enables the learning conversation to take place in a different environment, (3) changes the teaching approaches of educators and (4) may promote learner agency and voice.

Conclusion: Video may influence learning conversations, and video’s influence is likely entangled with the educational design associated with its use. No study directly addressed the phenomenon of how video influences learning conversations, and further study is required in this area.