Participants discovering their strengths at an appreciative inquiry workshop in June 2015
SEOUL - Since designation as a WHO Collaborating Centre for Educational Development in 2015, Seoul National University (SNU) College of Medicine has been leading several projects on strengthening capacity for health professions education and training in the Region. The project in Mongolia focuses on strengthening the capacity of the faculty members in the Mongolian National University of Medical Sciences (MNUMS).
The project started in April 2015 with a three-day strategic planning workshop. Nineteen faculty members from MNUMS participated in the workshop. The workshop identified the need to create a positive work environment for the faculty members to perform to their full potential.
In June 2015, SNU organized an appreciative inquiry workshop titled "Inspiring the Spirit of MNUMS". Appreciative inquiry takes a strengths-based approach to achieve sustainable organizational development and positive change in the workplace. The workshop brought together 150 faculty members to discuss ways to strengthen the educational system, consider setting-up a research-focused university and promote positive work culture. In the lead-up to the workshop, SNU designed an appreciative interview guide that faculty members used to interview each other. The qualitative data was documented and published as "Big Book of Success Stories in MNUMS".
This was followed by a three-day workshop that used the 4-D cycle of appreciative inquiry: discovery, dream, design and destiny. In the discovery phase participants were divided into 15 groups, reviewing the book to identify and map positive cores (hidden, underused strengths and assets). For the dream phase, each group developed dream stories to be achieved by 2020, performed through news report, role play or group dance activities that represented their dream. In the design and destiny phase participants developed consensus on seven innovation areas to inspire the spirit of MNUMS: curriculum development and evaluation, e-learning, item writing, clinical teaching, medical research (research methodology, article writing and publishing), resident selection and organizational culture change.
Based on the workshop results, SNU developed a ‘train the trainers’ workshop for each topic. The first cycle of training was completed in 2015 and the second cycle is ongoing in 2016. Initially feedback from these workshops suggests a growing appreciation of the change in the work environment.
Faculty members are important asset for all educational institutions, as they are the ‘agents of knowledge transmission’ and role models for students. Efforts to reform health professions education, to prepare a health workforce capable of providing high-quality, patient-centered care cannot succeed unless the faculty members are motivated and competent to drive this change. Health professions education reforms is a priority area for WHO and the work of the WHO collaborating centre has made a contribution.