Clinical Educator-Facilitated Schwartz Centre Rounds in Second-Year Medical Students: “A Facilitated Whinge”?

Abstract Background Medical students are increasingly being exposed to the clinic at early stages in their education, with the benefits becoming widely realised. This early exposure to such a highly pressurized environment can result in increased levels of stress and emotional unrest. Schwartz Center Rounds, reflective forums primed to aid social and emotional issues healthcare professionals’ experience, are now a relatively common and effective means to combat these effects in hospitals in the UK and USA. Recent studies show that the Schwartz Center Round format may also provide positive benefits for medical students. It has been suggested that students may be able to develop good coping strategies from discussions with “real” professionals.Methods This study investigated whether the guidance of Schwartz Center Rounds in year 2 of an MBChB by junior doctors enriches students’ appreciation and benefits of the Schwartz Center Round.Results The results reinforce the concept that Schwartz Center Rounds are an effective way of fostering empathy and understanding towards both patients and colleagues. Moreover, the facilitation of the Round by Clinical Educators, who also act as an imperfect role model, provides a pertinence to the exercise. The results show that early-year undergraduate medical students generally engage positively with SRs and demonstrate an ability to empathise with each other and share feelings regarding early clinical exposure without inhibition. However, correlation analyses suggest that engagement with the Schwartz Center Round is fundamental to gaining an understanding of its purpose and concurrently gain the most awareness of the emotional needs of themselves, their colleagues and patients.Conclusion Schwartz Center Rounds are an effective way of fostering empathy and understanding towards patients and colleagues in the healthcare environment. There is some evidence that the inclusion of Clinical Educators made the Round feel more pertinent to the students with the junior doctors’ clinical experiences being described as a useful addition to the discussion. Moreover, the students that benefitted most from the Round were the ones who engaged with and understood the process best and therefore it is important to help students realise that Schwartz Rounds are not merely a “facilitated whinge”.