Using audio-diaries for research and education: AMEE Guide No. 144

Near-Peer Teaching Opportunities Influence Professional Identity Formation as Educators in Future Clinicians

Teaching is a key role of a physician. Despite this, medical students are rarely exposed to the necessary skills and techniques throughout the duration of their education to prepare them for this component of their training. The gross anatomy lab provides a safe environment for students serving as near-peer educators to teach and learn to manage unexpected and uncomfortable situations. Students acting in near-peer teaching roles see a range of benefits from addressing personal weaknesses to improving communication skills and enhancing their anatomy and clinical knowledge, but there remains a lack of insight on how these experiences shape students' professional identity. This study examined how the professional identities of second-year medical students are shaped by serving as peer educators (PEs) in a gross anatomy laboratory. Gross anatomy PEs from the 2022 and 2025 cohorts recorded audio diary reflections at the end of each week they served as a PE highlighting how this role impacted how they view themselves as future physicians. Audio diary recordings were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using the framework method which includes familiarization, code application, and interpretation. A total of 26 audio diaries averaging 4 min in length were recorded across 11 PEs. Themes included Balancing Workload, Role of a Near Peer, Learning to Communicate, Learning to Collaborate, and Learning through Teaching. Students recognized that in addition to reinforcing their didactic training, serving as a peer educator in the gross anatomy lab helped them build skills necessary to fulfil their future role as a physician educator.

Paradoxical experiences of healthcare workers during COVID-19: a qualitative analysis of anonymous, web-based, audio narratives

PURPOSE

To gain a deeper understanding of healthcare workers experiences during COVID-19 using an anonymous, web-based, audio narrative platform.

METHODS

Data were collected from healthcare workers in the midwestern United States using a web-enabled audio diary approach. Participant recordings were analysed using a narrative coding and conceptualization process derived from grounded theory coding techniques.

RESULTS

Fifteen healthcare workers, in direct patient care or non-patient care roles, submitted 18 audio narratives. Two paradoxical themes emerged: 1) A paradox of distress and meaningfulness, where a harsh work environment resulted in psychological distress while simultaneously resulting in new rewarding experiences, sense of purpose and positive outlooks. 2) A paradox of social isolation and connection, where despite extreme isolation, healthcare workers formed intense and meaningful interpersonal connections with patients and colleagues in new ways.

CONCLUSIONS

A web-enabled audio diary approach provided an opportunity for healthcare workers to reflect deeper on their experiences without investigator influence, which led to some unique findings. Paradoxically, amid social isolation and extreme distress, a sense of value, meaning and rewarding human connections emerged. These findings suggest that interventions addressing healthcare worker burnout and distress might be enhanced by leveraging naturally occurring positive experiences as much as mitigating negative ones.

Learning in and across communities of practice: health professions education students' learning from boundary crossing

Learning to adapt to new contexts is crucial in health professions education (HPE). Boundaries between and within contexts challenge continuity in students' learning processes. Little is known about how HPE students can make these "boundary experiences" productive for learning. We investigated how and what nursing students learn from boundary experiences while they are simultaneously growing into a community of practice (CoP). Using a boundary-crossing lens, experiences of discontinuity were identified in pre-placement and post-placement interviews and diary fragments with 14 nursing students during their placement in an academic hospital. We found that students experience discontinuity as a result of different approaches to nursing care and to learning, both between (academic and clinical) settings and within a setting. When students feel safe enough, they can convert boundary experiences into meaningful learning situations, such as critical discussions with staff. Successfully overcoming boundary experiences improves students' understanding of healthcare and professional development and helps them to develop a personal approach to learning. Students critically address boundary experiences when they are motivated to learn and when they perceive a violation of ethical standards but not when they are concerned that it will affect their assessment. Objects designed to bridge theory and practice can generate additional barriers. This study adds to the HPE literature by demonstrating the learning potential of boundaries and to the broader literature by showing how responses to boundary experiences are intertwined with the process of growing into a CoP. The findings can be used to design future boundary objects.

Practising in a pandemic: A real time study of primary care practitioners' experience of working through the first year of COVID-19

This article presents reflections on the lessons learnt from developing and initiating a rapid research project in 4 weeks during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. The article highlights the importance of selecting methods appropriate to rapid research, discusses the challenges of data collection in a shifting context, and the importance of the research team being prepared to cede some degree of control over the data collection process. To protect staff and patients and prevent the spread of COVID-19, general practice shifted to remote service delivery and consultations occurred via the telephone or online platforms. In the study, submissions were collected from those working in general practice to capture their experiences of the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants could choose how to submit their narratives, with some preferring to be interviewed and others contributing self-recorded submissions. This article offers practical reflections in response to the challenges of carrying out rapid research during a pandemic, including the importance of constructing a research team which can respond to the demands of the study, as well as the benefits of an expedited ethical review process. The study highlighted the importance of selecting appropriate methods to facilitate the rapid collection of data. In particular, the authors reflect on the differences between participants' response to interviews, written submissions, and audio diaries. Open approaches to data collection were found to encourage participation and reflexivity and also generated rich narrative accounts. Rapid research has progressed our understanding of general practice's experience of the first year of COVID-19.