Schwartz Rounds Researchers – a new network for collaboration on Rounds evaluations
01 April 2019
Hello, my name’s Duncan and I’m a postgraduate researcher at the University of Surrey. My doctoral work is looking at Schwartz Rounds in undergraduate settings, evaluating how the intervention fares in this non-clinical setting for people who are at a pre-registration point in their careers.
The uncertainties around how Rounds should be adapted to continue to be successful in this new context are a consequence of the growing popularity of Rounds and their application across increasingly diverse settings and populations. At the same time, research and evaluation projects for Rounds are also growing in number and scope, for example the National Institute for Health Research funded study has recently produced a wealth of insight and evidence. Guidance from this evaluation has been produced to aid in future efforts and is available here.
Going forward, guidance, cooperation and collaboration will be key to ensuring evaluation efforts are not misdirected, repeating work already in-progress or through underpowered quantitative measurement. Through a shared conversation we can identify the most pressing questions that need answers. Rapid progress can be had on under-researched areas, such as facilitator burnout and what makes for successful Rounds themes.
To this end, the Point of Care Foundation will be hosting an innovative new Schwartz Rounds Researchers network to encourage cooperation, collaborative planning and the sharing of knowledge among everyone interested in Rounds evaluation. Currently there is a Slack discussion forum (invite link here) and a growing Zotero library of key references, both of which you are very welcome to sign up to and contribute to! The shape of resources in the future will be entirely down to your voice: what will benefit you and what will you contribute?
This is a rare opportunity in research for collaborative, focused work across evaluations for an intervention, only possible because of the leadership that can be provided by a central organisation like the Point of Care Foundation.
As a fledgling researcher, I’m very much looking forward to seeing what shape the network takes and I’m hopeful, with your help, it can become a model of excellence in providing an unrivalled quality and breadth of evidence. Rounds are incredibly important to me, so I hope you’ll join me and by pooling our efforts, Rounds will continue to go from strength to strength.