Firstly, I REALLY care about your learning

My mission

To explore new teaching methods; to seek out new ways of becoming educated. To boldly go where few have gone before.

And to be in several places all at the same time.

My vision

To provide easy access to greater knowledge and ongoing accessible information.

Happy, supported learning whenever and wherever you need it.

My educating style

When I am working for myself rather than teaching on behalf of a company, I use a Flipped Classroom Approach.

Basically this means: Study first, meet me later.

You are introduced to the field and learn first through my instructional pre-made video courses. Then we can meet (if you want to) and have deeper, more meaningful discussions. As a group or one to one, virtually or face to face, we can go through scenarios, we can address your questions, troubleshoot any issues, practice any techniques, and check up on your learning and how you feel about things.

This approach relies on learners being motivated and self-directed. It takes trust on my part that you have engaged with the stuff I provide before hand. But that's OK, because I TRUST YOU! I don't track the videos you watch, I don't monitor how many log in's you have made, I simply just trust that as a healthcare professional, you are doing the learning in the best way for you. And my structured lesson plans and workbooks are there to guide you all the way.

Most healthcare staff don't need reminding of their responsibility to their patients, thus are already motivated to take learning seriously in their practice. I think this is a PERFECT method for busy health care staff! But again, if this isn't for you or your team that's absolutely OK with me!

I hope that explains my rationale. I do teach in other ways too but this is my personal favourite way.

Now for the drawbacks of this approach (and some alternative suggestions) to help you decide what's best for you or your team.

• You might just not like my delivery style, my personality, my Manchester accent, or simply looking at my face on videos. That's ok. We can't gel with everyone we meet. Check some videos of mine out first as a taster and see what you think.

• You might prefer a more direct approach to delivery, maybe you like a traditional classroom setting and want to get away from a computer screen. I hear ya! And I commend you for reducing the screen time and getting out of the house.

• You might prefer an approach where you get to be in person with colleagues and peers and have a catch up at the same time. You might enjoy a free lunch or free pen on a face to face course and there is absolutely no problem with that. I love a freebie like that too! And I am willing to come to people's working environments to workshop with them (with chocolate and free pens) when the preference arises.

• You might find self-motivating tricky and prefer having a nudge from a tutor throughout the course and a time slot you are forced to commit to rather than a more liberal approach to scheduling the time. Totally get it if that sounds like you or your team members.

• You might be worried that I'm not a well-known brand up there with the big companies (although I can assure you I take this all very seriously and teach to the same guidance as everyone else - in fact, I teach for a lot of those fantastic training companies myself and am very familiar with standards across the board). You can check them all out and find fabulous courses with them on my shout out page if you are wanting some other suggestions. Maybe I will see you via one of those instead!

Good luck with your important training decisions and hope to meet you one day!

Why have I gone down this route to educating?

Well, I have thought about this A LOT over the years. I have taught thousands of health care staff of all levels of experience, in different settings and roles. And there are a few patterns every type of team seems to have in common. Are any of these things that you have had trouble with either as an individual or as a manager attempting to book training sessions in?

TIME:

You just want to get cracking BUT live courses can book up fast. Sometimes this means then having to postpone starting a new role due to having to wait weeks or months for another date. Or not being able to get everyone in the team on a course all at once.

With my courses you can allocate any day you like to start and end them. If you want your team to all do it on the same day or all together; fine, get them all together and allocate the time so you can be sure they engaged with it (all my lesson plans have recommended timings on them to aid with planning that).

CURVEBALLS:

And then when you DO find a date for a live course, not everyone can make it, or the provider cancels, or someone is off sick or the car breaks down. Life happens and it sometimes doesn't care about inconveniencing us!

My courses will sit and wait while you take the cat to the vet or answer the door to the Amazon delivery driver or cover for that staff member who called in sick today.

ATTENTION FAILURES:

Even on one's BEST, most alert and awake happiest-not-a-care-in-the-world day it's pretty much impossible to take everything in at once on a live course. Things will always get missed or misunderstood. But mostly, people are rarely 100% at the best on the day of a live course. I've taught delegates who are in bed with a Beechams, have a kid running around with chicken pox in the background, have to leave early to attend funerals, have a very distracting doggie, have their manager in the background asking them to see a patient who 'just fell in reception'. Someone even passed out on my virtual course once! (hopefully my teaching isn't that bad and it was more to do with being in the throes of COVID). Some evidence suggests that people only recall 10% of a taught course which is very demoralising for both teacher and student.

My courses enable you to either intensely hyperfocus for as many hours as you want if that's your bag, OR to do it in bite-sized chunks and a time that suits you best. Up to you.

LOGISTICAL STRESS:

Getting to venues can be tricky at rush hour, accessing virtual platforms can add a layer of unwanted anxiety. If you have not had time for breakfast, or had a stressful start to the day this does not set you up for learning very well (check out Maslow's hierarchy of needs in my education pages).

My courses enable you to start the course without any worries about mapping a journey, dropping off the kids at school before a mad dash, or the panic of realising your PC needs to update and restart just as a course is about to begin.

TIME TO DIGEST INFORMATION BEFORE APPLYING IT:

Deep learning involves being able to apply your knowledge and skills. All too often people are expected to learn quickly and be ready to apply it on the same day. But sometimes you just need a little more time to properly digest everything that has been thrown your way before you get stuck in to deeper levels (check out Blooms taxonomy mentioned in my education pages).

My courses will wait for you (and repeat themselves if needed) while you take it all in.

CONTENT REQUIREMENTS VARY:

This has been a big one for me in my role. I frequently get bespoke requests (check some out here).

My courses are flexible - I can send you tailored lesson plans so that they still meet the standards, but are perfectly adapted for your specific needs. (e.g. I appreciate how OH roles differ from that of a pharmacy or general practice and generic primary care courses sometimes just don't hit the mark). And if you change your job later on, no worries. I aim to equip you with the tools and study skills needed to easily get up to speed on other aspects related to your new role.

I don't just teach content. I want to develop your independent study skills too so you can continue to be the wonderfully autonomous, self-directed, evidence-based health care worker that you are. All my courses are based on making sure you are accessing the evidence, using the evidence well, and reflecting on the evidence to find answers.