Teaching and training through transition
If you could bottle Dr. Alice Tsui’s energy and enthusiasm for medicine and teaching, you could likely light up the city of Windsor for days.
A Schulich Medicine alumnus, Dr. Tsui has been practising emergency medicine in her hometown of Windsor since 2002.
Shortly after, Tsui became a faculty member and started to take on her own students. In 2003, clerks began working alongside her in the emergency department.
Tsui’s skills and passion were soon channeled into teaching environments beyond the emergency department.
For the past four years, she has served as a leader for critically ill and mentally ill modules that are part of the now named Integration & Transition course. And recently, her teaching has shifted to courses using high fidelity simulation as a training and teaching modality.
Originally, simulation of patient scenarios with high fidelity mannequins was used to provide fourth year undergraduate students in the Windsor Program with an equivalent experience to their cohort in London.
The outcome has been positive and it has become a permanent feature of the program. “It’s been great to provide this type of learning for the students,” said Tsui, “they just soak it up.”
Because fourth year students are in a transition period – going from student to physician, they are try trying to become more independent in their decision-making. Tsui believes simulation is the perfect modality for this. It forces students to act, react and make care decisions, but in a safe environment.
Tsui also believes that simulation is a truly dynamic approach to teaching. “It’s so refreshing and such an exciting teaching modality,” said Tsui.
“Simulation takes teaching to a whole new level, you aren’t just lecturing, you have to be prepared for a whole menu of outcomes and reactions from your students, you have to really go with the flow.”
One of the most interesting observations Tsui has had when using simulation as a tool, is the emotional impact it has on students.
Students, she said, are not used to being in charge when presented with a very ill or critically ill patient. When they are in the simulation lab using high fidelity mannequins programmed to emulate a critically ill patient, they are the ones making decisions and formulating treatment plans. They have to learn how to handle the unexpected, and work as a team.
“When the simulated patient starts getting ill, you can see the anxiety on the students’ faces,” she said. “They have to learn how to handle the stress, control their emotions, keep calm and manage the situation.”
The opportunity to use simulation training for Windsor Program students is possible, thanks to faculty members from the University of Windsor Nursing Program, as well as a long list of emergency physicians and internists. And Tsui is grateful for their contributions as facilitators and teachers.
Back in a very hectic emergency department, Tsui teaches and mentors another group of students. At times, it can be a balancing act to provide good teaching, maintain excellent care and keep the emergency department running smoothly.
It’s a part of the job that continues to reward, however. “When a student tells you they were successful with a procedure or a certain diagnosis, and you can see the pride on their face, it makes it all worthwhile,” she said.
As a mother of three, Tsui is as busy after hours as she is throughout the day. She recharges by pursuing her love of music, and enjoying time with her kids, her husband, family and friends.
