#11: What does a tutor in the SkillsLab do?

Axes and fake blood at the University of Magdeburg! Things that sound like props for a play are actually used in our Mamba SkillsLab - the training center for aspiring physicians - on our Medical Faculty campus. Examples of the emergency situations simulated by the student tutors here include forestry and road accidents that enable medical students to practice the first-line treatment of seriously injured patients. Simon Bensmann is one such tutor. Together with Korinna Wendt, the coordinator of the SkillsLab, in the latest edition of our in-house podcast, “Listening to the University”, he explains to us why it is so important to train for such emergency situations as realistically as possible.

Our guest today

In this eleventh edition, we have two guests together: Korinna Wendt is the coordinator of the SkillsLab and Simon Bensmann is a tutor and student leader at this training center. The two of them dedicate their time to the SkillsLab in the Faculty of Medicine, a training center in which medical students can develop and test their skills.

 

 *the audio file is only available in German
Medizinstudierende im Skills Lab der Uni Magdeburg (c) Christian Morawe (2)Simon Bensmann (right) during training in the SkillsLab. (Foto: Christian Morawe)

The Podcast to Read

Intro voiceover: In die Uni reingehört. Der Podcast zur Arbeitswelt an der OVGU.

 

Friederike Süssig-Jeschor: Hello dear listeners, and a very warm welcome to the first edition in 2021 of our in-house podcast, “Listening to the University”. My name is Friederike Süssig-Jeschor. I am the press officer in the Faculty of Medicine here at the University of Magdeburg. At OVGU, the lecturers work in conjunction with student tutors. Today we want to find out exactly what that means in practice and what it is that student tutors actually do. To do so we have moved out of our usual studio environment to the Mamba SkillsLab - our training center for aspiring physicians - on the campus of the Faculty of Medicine. The success of the SkillsLab depends a great deal on its tutors. Korinna Wendt, the coordinator of the SkillsLab, and Simon Bensmann, a student leader and tutor, are here today to tell us how much effort the job requires and why this commitment is so important. Welcome!


Korinna Wendt: Hello, thank you very much for having us.


Simon Bensmann: Hello and thank you! I’m really pleased to have been invited.


Süssig-Jeschor: Ms Wendt, the SkillsLab was established 12 years ago with a lot of voluntary involvement from students, doctors and staff in the office of the Dean of Students. Why is it so important to have a facility like this at the University of Magdeburg?


Wendt: On the one hand, we offer a safe space here where students can either gain new knowledge and practical expertise, or practice skills that they have already acquired. And the very first thing that we always say on our courses is that nothing leaves this room. So ask any questions you like, make mistakes, you are “one of us” here and nothing bad can happen. The atmosphere on our courses is always extremely relaxed and this means that the training is really good as a result. And also because the students are among themselves, things are very harmonious, and everyone is friendly with one another. Nobody takes questions amiss, if somebody does not understand something, then everybody pauses until absolutely everyone is up to speed. On the other hand, we also wanted to create a space here for people to meet, just to sit together on the sofa, drink a coffee with course participants and fellow students, empty the vending machines or just hire a room and study together for an exam. At the moment preferably alone, but usually they are welcome to do so in groups too. All that kind of thing is possible here.


Süssig-Jeschor: You said it: practicing, training - that is what the SkillsLab is all about and that is the difference it makes. As everyone knows, practice makes perfect. In 2009 the SkillsLab had just 3 rooms and its capacity was limited. In the meantime, the SkillsLab has moved here to these premises and the medical students now have 33 rooms on 3 floors available to them covering a total surface area of 1,876 square meters. So plenty of room to go all out! What specifically can the students practice here?


Wendt: In fact, quite a lot has happened here in recent years. I did some research. And actually the SkillsLab began in the winter semester of 2009/10 with precisely 4 courses, and within recent years the course offering has been expanded to include 31 courses and now we are able to provide teaching in a state-of-the art building and can proudly say that we have one of the most modern SkillsLabs in Germany. With some of the best facilities, which is something that we can see sometimes in SkillsLab forums, where we are in contact with SkillsLabs in other cities, so we are really proud of our facilities. We actually offer courses from A for Anamnesis to Z for ZVK care [ZVK stands for Zentralen Venenkatheter = central line] All of our courses are very popular and always book up quickly. However the sonography and emergency courses are especially popular here.


Süssig-Jeschor: What exactly is that like? Perhaps you could go into a bit of detail about what happens on this course?


Wendt: At this point I think I should hand over to Simon, who has often taken part in this course and is also a course leader. So: Simon!


Bensmann: Thank you for the handover, Korinna! From the buzzer sounding to notify us of a “traffic accident” to imaging in the trauma room, we can actually do everything. We have many different emergency medicine case studies available. For example, advanced cardiovascular life support, when, for example, Granny passes out, when the defibrillators should be used that can be found, for example, here in the Allee Center or City Carre. Then we have courses about accidents at work, such as when a forestry worker amputates an arm, where we have blood spraying around the room, or for traffic accidents. In order to depict these case studies as realistically as possible, we have a specially set up SimArena, where we can have various backgrounds, sounds and even fog.


Süssig-Jeschor: So that means - at least this is how I understand it - you yourself slip into the role of a patient? Is that right? Is that how it works?


Bensmann: Of course we sometimes do have simulated patients who are played by the tutor, although we also have good dolls who are good for playing unconscious patients and usually the tutor is actually more there to guide people.


Süssig-Jeschor: Mr Bensmann, now we are really curious. You are a tutor here in the SkillsLab, but that is not your main job. What do you actually do here?


Bensmann: I have been a medical student here at the University of Magdeburg since October 2016 and at present I also oversee a seminar group for first semester students, so I get to put my interest in acute emergency medicine into practice.


Süssig-Jeschor: And what exactly is your role as tutor?


Bensmann: First and foremost, my role consists in sharing my passion for ultrasound diagnostics with my fellow students. In addition, we are, of course, always interested, that is, the whole tutoring team is interested, in constantly expanding and improving our program. To this end, it is vital that we are able to exchange ideas with the course participants. And among the tutoring team we discuss whether we can offer a particular type of course, and whether we can develop a particular course concept. Generally we then develop it with the medical supervisors and Dean of Students.


Süssig-Jeschor: That sounds very time-consuming. As a tutor, you need to spend time in addition to your studies to dedicating yourself to the needs of other students. Why is that so important to you and how do you manage to fit it all into your day-to-day life as a student?


Bensmann: First and foremost, I really love teaching. And anyone who knows me knows that I really like the sound of my own voice. And last, but not least, I am always delighted to see how much leaning progress the participants make on practical courses like this. Often I have participants on the course who are holding an ultrasound probe in their hands for the very first time in their lives, and by the end they are sometimes able to produce structured normal findings and reliably detect common pathologies. And how I manage to fit it into my day-to-day life as a student is actually really easy, because I am able to organize my working hours very flexibly.


Süssig-Jeschor: Ms Wendt, you worked as a nurse for many years and so you are very familiar with what happens in practice. Should these voluntary teaching programs be more firmly integrated into the timetable? What do you think?


Wendt: Well, I think that our program is very large and above all very varied, and therefore we can offer a great amount of support to the teaching of the curriculum. We offer an optional program with which people can go back over the curricular courses and practice them and consolidate the knowledge that they have acquired. And the advantage of optional courses is, as Simon has just said, he is able to organize his working hours flexibly. The optional courses are offered from morning to night in the SkillsLab, at different times, and as a result they are also easily integrated into the timetables of everyone who is interested in pursuing them.


Süssig-Jeschor: So now we are in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic. I am sure that the SkillsLab cannot currently be used as normal. What challenges have remote teaching posed? How many students are you still able to support?


Wendt: Of course at the moment it is fewer, because right now, while we are in lockdown, all of our face-to-face courses have been paused / cannot take place. Over the last year, as it became clear to us that somehow we will have to live with the coronavirus, as a team, in March/April we held a lot of Zoom meetings, got together by Zoom and collated ideas about which of our courses we could switch to an online format, which new courses we might be able to offer, and really kept our ears to the ground and asked our students what kind of courses they might like to see and what, perhaps, we could convey in terms of content. And then our tutors very quickly drew up new plans and rearranged old ones, again in conjunction with our medical counterparts and in agreement with the Dean of Students. It all happened extremely quickly, so that by the beginning of April we had already tested out the first courses again within the team. Then we asked a few students if they would be interested in being test participants, so that from the summer semester in April we were able to get 5 online courses off the ground and, to the extent that face-to-face teaching is possible, we also carry out our face-to-face courses too, naturally in compliance with the hygiene rules that are currently in place. Everyone wears an FFP-2 mask, we have an entrance and an exit, everyone disinfects their hands. And that has worked really well, up until now where nothing is allowed to take place. And we are extremely grateful to all of our participants and everyone who uses the SkillsLab, because as a result we have been able to keep the doors open up until now.


Süssig-Jeschor: You have already mentioned that it is always with the support of doctors and clinics. How does this collaboration work?


Wendt: It actually works very well. In our lab every course has a fixed medical contact person and firstly these colleagues act as support for the tutors if they have a new idea for a course. So, on the one hand, they help to come up with ideas, but also with designing the concept, deciding which learning objectives must be included, what is perhaps already covered by the teaching on the curriculum, what we can offer additionally in an optional course of this kind, and what should perhaps be examined in greater depth on this course. They are always there as contacts when the tutors have open questions, then they can turn straight to their colleagues. And we are very grateful for the fact that they help us out at unusual times, including at the various events such as our Trauma Night, which takes place twice a year and is held by the Emergency Medicine Working Group in cooperation with the SkillsLab tutors. And we even have good support too from the clinics, although it takes place on Friday afternoons. So as a rule the event takes place between 3 and 10 pm and nevertheless we always have medical colleagues who volunteer to take part and enjoy this event. And that is, of course, absolutely amazing and really enhances the tutoring team.


Süssig-Jeschor: Mr Bensmann, let’s come back to the course program. What is especially well received by the students and what, in general, is the feedback on the SkillsLab like


Bensmann: In terms of the course program, actually everything is well received. Of course, that has a lot to do with the way everyone is able to work together in such a relaxed atmosphere. The feedback is split between anonymous evaluation questionnaires, which we hand out at the end of the course. And actually they all tend to be positive. Plus, at the end of the course, we do, in fact ask, since we tutors all have the gift of the gab, for verbal feedback too, and try to incorporate it in the subsequent courses.


Süssig-Jeschor: You just said that working with a tutor is more casual than with an actual lecturer. Have you made use of the program yourself too?


Bensmann: Yes, I made a lot of use of the program and am proud to have got my certificate of participation on every course, actually, and they are all in my file of important documents alongside my state examination certificates. And, of course, people don't just come to the SkillsLab because of the relaxed atmosphere, but because, above all, they want to learn something. We have to be clear about the fact that a tutor cannot provide the same level of expertise as a physician, but in my eyes that is not necessarily the point of it, nor is it absolutely necessary. Simply because the tutor is a bit closer to the students and knows, ‘ok, I really had a problem visualizing such and such a thing, in learning that’. Perhaps they also have the odd beginner’s tip so that students do not find themselves overstretched, but equally so that they are not bored, as they might be if they heard for the tenth time the same thing that they had already heard on their first semester anatomy course.


Süssig-Jeschor: So providing support, giving people a leg up - I see now. Were these the things that motivated you to become involved as a tutor?


Bensmann: Yes, of course it was a mix of things, but naturally these were extremely important to me. But as I already said, I was actually a visitor who came in and out here every day and at some point I really wanted to become a part of this tutoring team, and the challenge appealed to me, too, of familiarizing myself with a subject in greater depth than is possible in just the lectures.


Süssig-Jeschor: You both mentioned a large team. Can you go into more detail? How many tutors are currently working here to cover the course program?


Bensmann: At present we have around 20 tutors and have just appointed 6 new ones for the coming semester, just because we always have a certain amount of turnover. Some are about to take their M2 [state examination] and want to spend their time studying, and some drop out for other reasons.


Süssig-Jeschor: Does that mean that you are still looking for tutors, or not? And if so, do they need to have certain qualifications, or is it advantageous, if, for example, they already have previous experience?


Bensmann: As a rule we advertise new posts that we are specifically looking to fill for the new semester. Generally no particular qualifications are needed. In principle, everything that you learn on your degree is enough. We then train our tutors ourselves regarding subject matter and teaching skills, meaning that anyone can apply from their third year onwards. However, if people have already completed their training as, for example, a nurse or paramedic, then they are welcome to apply from their first year of studies.


Süssig-Jeschor: So that was a short advertisement aimed at all those who can imagine themselves doing the job of tutor. Now I really want to do it too and hope that you are in agreement if at the end of this program I slip into your role as tutor for a moment? Because I want you both to complete an exercise for me. Our loyal listeners will already know what I am talking about. As part of our feature known as “Long story short”, I will give you the start of three different sentences and your task is to complete them. Are you ready?


Bensmann: Definitely.


Wendt: Yes.


Süssig-Jeschor: Then, ladies first! When I am in a bad mood, what helps me to do my job in the SkillsLab is...


Wendt: In a bad mood is really a bit of an exaggeration, but if that happens to me, then what really helps is happy students sticking their heads around my office door and saying hello! In the best-case scenario they also have a bit of chocolate in their hands for me, but just a smile is ok too.


Süssig-Jeschor: Mr Bensmann?


Bensmann: I would actually agree with Korinna, but I’m also always really happy if I find a normal variant with the sonograph.


Süssig-Jeschor: To ensure that an emergency situation is portrayed as closely as possible to reality...


Wendt: we actually like to spray our tutors, our simulation patients on certain courses, with a little bit of fake blood, use the entire building, sometimes by transforming the lift or the staircase into the scene of an accident, and are really pleased when everything looks as close to reality as possible.


Süssig-Jeschor: Mr Bensmann?


Bensmann: Then I grab as many props as possible from the SimArena, from bikes to axes, we actually have everything.


Süssig-Jeschor: So now here is the last sentence. For me, the SkillsLab is...


Wendt: actually a good reason to get up in the morning, when the alarm goes off, because I really love coming here every day and am happy, because I get to meet lots of great people, often get to learn something new too, and because I get to be part of this SkillsLab family.


Süssig-Jeschor: Mr Bensmann?

Bensmann: A place that I am always happy to be.


Friederike Süssig-Jeschor: Thank you very much! Dear listeners, that's all for today and I would like to say thank you for the fascinating insights into the work of a tutor, and to you, Ms Wendt here in the SkillsLab in the Faculty of Medicine. Thank you very much to everyone for listening again and until the next time!


Bensmann: Thank you very much!


Wendt: Thank you! Bye!

 

Intro voiceover: In die Uni reingehört. Der Podcast zur Arbeitswelt an der OVGU.

Last Modification: 07.02.2022 - Contact Person: Webmaster