Instances and examples of core non-technical-skills keywords
| Specialty | HF | NTS | SA | Sample text from selected curricula | Assessment tool |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anaesthetics | 14 | 28 | 12 | (Demonstrate) ‘awareness of human factors … and the importance of non-technical skills in achieving consistently high performance such as: effective communication, team-working, leadership, decision-making and maintenance of high situation awareness’ (A27 critical incidents/attitudes and behaviours) | CbD, CEX, examination, simulation |
| (Describe) ‘the central role human factors plays in developing a culture of safe practice and how collaboration and team-working enhances safety’ (advanced training (domain 1: clinical practice)/knowledge and skills) | ALMAT, MSF | ||||
| Emergency medicine | 3 | 4 | 4 | (The trainee) ‘ensures the primacy of patient safety in all aspects of communication and cooperation and is able to utilise cognitive strategies, human factors and CRM to maximise this’—CC15 communication with colleagues and cooperation/behaviour in emergency department context | ACAT, CbD, CEX, MSF |
| (Demonstrate) ‘awareness of human factors concepts and terminology and the importance of non-technical skills in achieving consistently high performance such as: effective communication, team-working, leadership, decision-making and maintenance of high situation awareness’—(C critical incidents/attitudes and behaviours) | ACAT, CbD, examinations | ||||
| ‘Demonstrate good non-technical skills such as: effective communication, team working, leadership, decision making and maintenance of high situational awareness’ (C critical incidents/skills) | ACAT, CbD, DOPS, simulation | ||||
| Intensive care medicine | 3 | 4 | 2 | ‘Outline human factors theory and understand its impact on safety’ (2.7 prioritisation of patient safety in clinical practice/knowledge and 11.3 identifies hazards and promotes safety for patients and staff/knowledge) | CbD |
| (Demonstrate) ‘awareness of human factors concepts and terminology and the importance of non-technical skills in achieving consistently high performance such as: effective communication, team-working, leadership, decision-making and maintenance of high situation awareness’ (3.10 critical incidents/attitudes and behaviours) | CEX, CbD, examinations, simulation | ||||
| Allergy | 1 | 0 | 0 | ‘Outlines human factors theory and understands its impact on safety’ (1.7 prioritisation of patient safety in clinical practice/knowledge) | CbD |
| Immunology | 1 | 0 | 0 | ‘Outlines human factors theory and understands its impact on safety’ (1.7 prioritisation of patient safety in clinical practice/knowledge) | CbD |
| Clinical pharmacology | 1 | 0 | 0 | ‘Be able to describe … the human factors which lead to drug use errors’ (36 drug errors/knowledge) | PbD |
| Surgical specialties* | 0 | 0 | 1 | (ST3 person specification) ‘situation awareness: capacity to monitor and anticipate situations that may change rapidly’ (selection criteria/personal skills) | Application, interview, references |
| ACAT | Acute care assessment tool | Direct observation of a trainee over an extended period, commenting on management, reasoning, interpretation of signs, team-working and resource management |
| ALMAT | Anaesthesia list management assessment tool | Direct observation of a trainee supervising trainee’s conduct over a whole session, including management, record keeping, interpretation of signs/investigations, team-working, leadership and communication |
| CbD | Case-based discussion | A post-hoc assessment of case management intended to demonstrate clinical reasoning, decision-making and medical knowledge |
| CEX | Clinical evaluation exercise | Direct observation of a trainee over shorter periods. Feedback covers assessment, diagnostic skill, clinical reasoning and decision-making, safety, communication and professionalism |
| DOPS | Direct observation of procedural skills | An assessment of technical skill performance; in some specialties (notably emergency medicine) reference is also made to NTS components such as SA |
| MSF | Multi-source feedback | Collection of feedback from a trainee’s peers from various professional backgrounds, covering knowledge, skills, performance, contribution to safety and quality, communication and team-working and probity |
| PbD | Problem-based discussion | A post-hoc assessment of knowledge demonstrating reasoning, decision-making and application of knowledge in relation to drug treatment usually at a population level |
Summary of the occurrences of ‘human factors’, ‘non-technical skill’ and ‘situational awareness’; unlisted specialties contained no relevant instances of the search terms in 2010.
*Some surgical specialties (cardiothoracic surgery, neurosurgery, oromaxillofacial surgery, otolaryngeal surgery, plastic surgery, paediatric surgery, trauma and orthopaedics and urology) each contained this single instance of ‘situation awareness’.
CRM, crisis resources management; HF, human factors; NTS, non-technical skills; SA, situational awareness; ST3, specialty trainee 3.