Dennis Parker Prize for innovation awarded to Matthew Goldsworthy
Matthew Goldsworthy, a year 5 MBChB student, was awarded the 2017 Dennis Parker Prize for his multimedia education project.
The aim of this project is to improve patient understanding of chronic liver disease by using an educational screencast. This is a clinician-narrated information video, supported by on-screen text, diagrams and animations. It was produced in collaboration with Dr Waleed Fateen, Dr Mark Aldersley, Dr Ian Rowe and Dr Rebecca Jones from the Leeds Liver Unit at St James’s University Hospital.
An Open Access article in the BMJ’s Frontline Gastroenterology journal reporting on an evaluation of this tool was also submitted with his application. Goldsworthy and co-authors showed that the screencast led to a significant and sustained improvement in patient knowledge. The format also rated favourably with patients and families. The approach has potential to be applied in other areas of patient education.
The Dennis Parker Innovation Prize was established by the School of Medicine through the generosity of Dr Dennis Mackinder Parker. Matthew Goldsworthy was awarded £250 for his innovative approach to empower patients with essential, up-to-date information on liver cirrhosis.
You can view the screencast on the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust website.
Congratulations and best wishes from the judging panel:
Valerie Farnsworth (LIME), Jonathan Darling (LIME), Kim Edwards (PCC) and Sarah Underwood (LUBS)
Reflections from this year’s Dennis Parker Prize winner, Matthew Goldsworthy:
Working on this project was an excellent opportunity for me to expand my knowledge and skills across many domains. The initial development of the screencast required me to consolidate my knowledge of liver cirrhosis management and apply graphic design and video production skills. The evaluation phase then allowed me to gain experience of recruiting patients to a clinical study, performing statistical analysis and writing journal articles.
Research and quality improvement projects are an essential component of both undergraduate and postgraduate medical training, so developing a broad range of relevant skills at an early stage can be extremely helpful. So far, I have been able to translate my learning from this initiative to further projects during my intercalated degree and medical elective period. Having a pre-existing baseline also helped me to progress more quickly and be more productive during these later projects.
I would certainly encourage other students to get involved in an enterprising or quality improvement project of some form during their undergraduate studies. My experience has taught me that a lot can be gained from even the simplest of initiatives.
For more information on the prize, contact v.l.farnsworth@leeds.ac.uk or see our downloads page
For information on past winners see below:
