Accepted Type
Oral
Code
OC2-3-4
Was this work accepted for CCME 2020?
no
Category
General Call (Workshop, Oral Presentation, Poster Presentation)
Type
Oral
Sub Type
Education Innovation
Will the presenter be a:
Other
Presenter Other
Faculty
Affiliation
Considered for Poster
yes
Title
Steps towards building psychological safety within the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry at the University of Alberta
Length of Presentation
Background/Purpose
In Canada, psychological safety is mandated within the workplace. Despite regulations, anonymized graduating learner surveys continue to identify the presence of mistreatment, while learners report fear of reporting mistreatment. In 2019, the professionalism committees within the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry (FoMD) initiated early steps directed to creating a culture of psychological safety for all workplace members, to support more open dialogue around professionalism and treatment of others in our workplace, from learners through faculty.
Summary of the Innovation
Members of FoMD professionalism committees, along with internal and external FoMD stakeholders, met at a psychological safety retreat to answer three questions: (1) What is a psychologically safe workplace, and how does it impact you?; (2) What do you perceive to be the barriers in shifting FoMD culture?; and (3) What are some opportunities we could build upon to start moving towards psychological safety within the FoMD workplace? Small group-generated barriers and opportunities were themed into the 13 psychosocial factors, then prioritized through anonymous stakeholder individual survey ranking. The top nine identified barriers & actionable opportunities were then organized into four key implementation priorities: 1) Faculty Structure; 2) Faculty Development; 3) Faculty Communication Strategy; and 4) Individual Stressors. Progress of working groups, through the COVID-19 pandemic and an unprecedented period of academic restructuring at the University of Alberta, is described.
Conclusion
To build a culture of psychological safety for all members of an academic medical workplace, initiatives must translate stakeholder views into structured actions in a safe, transparent, and accountable manner.
Keyword 1
psychological safety
Keyword 2
system
Keyword 3
psychosocial factors
Level of Training
General
Abstract Themes
Professionalism
Additional Theme (First choice)
Physician & Medical Student Health and Well-being
Additional Theme (Second Choice)
Inter-professional Education
Additional Theme (Third Choice)
Leadership
Authors
Presenter
Penelope Smyth
Term 1
Yes
Term 2
Yes
Term 3
Yes
Term 4
Yes
Term 5
Yes
