The University of Buckingham Medical School has been shortlisted for the ‘Outstanding Collaboration’ category in the 2024 Independent Higher Education Awards for their interdisciplinary learning simulation event, “The Major Incident,” that forms part of its MB ChB Medicine program.
The ‘incident’ is a hands-on training exercise that places third year medical students in realistic emergency scenarios such as structural collapses, plane crashes, and road accidents working alongside emergency services like Buckinghamshire Fire & Rescue Service, South Central Ambulance Service, and Thames Valley Police, to see how teams interact and respond in these situations.
Journalism and media students roleplay and produce post-event stories, make-up artist enhance the realism by designing injuries for actors playing casualties and students are engaged in moulage work with the large population of actors that act as casualties.
The most recent event in May simulated a rail accident and road crash involving a car and a minibus had around 150 medical students and over 300 participants in total. The simulation has been praised by the General Medical Council for promoting collaboration and realism in medical education.
Professor Joanne Selway, the initiative lead, said: “Being shortlisted for the ‘Outstanding Collaboration’ is an honour and a testament to the extensive effort and meticulous planning that underpin the success of the week-long course.
“It reflects the value of our collaboration with local services and the collective dedication required to create such an impactful experience.”
The concept for the simulation began in 2016/17 and was inspired by the terror incidents of that time. Professor Selway explained that she and the Phase 2 Lead Professor Thomas wanted to prepare students not just as clinicians but as effective responders in emergencies.
“We wanted to teach students about interprofessional working and managing complexity and uncertainty in a way that no classroom can,” she said.
The program has grown significantly over the years, the first exercise in 2017 featured a week-long course, culminating in a simulation of a structural collapse in a building. In 2018 and 2019, it evolved to a plane crash and a fire on a boat in a harbor.
Following Covid, the major incident exercise was re-launched in 2022 with a simulated road traffic accident, which was repeated in 2023 with 30% more students.
“The scale and complexity of the simulation are unparalleled. No other institution in the country delivers a simulation of this magnitude for an entire student cohort, it truly sets us apart and makes it a distinctive feature of the Buckingham experience.” Professor Selway added.
