As a simulation and education fellow, one of my responsibilities is to create the simulation scenarios for the residents. Fortuitously, the debriefing of one of these scenarios involves a teaching session. This particular scenario is one created by me and from a personal experience. Discovering that I had to do a video recording of my teaching at first triggered a bit of panic as to what would be good enough to record. This panic was short-lived though as I soon decided to record this teaching session.

I am someone whom I believe can be very hard on myself, always believing that I could do better and feeling disappointed about myself as a result. It then was no surprise that I was not enthused to watch myself on video. Luckily, I completed my partner’s assessment before I watched my teaching video, so I had some directive as to what to assess about mine. This provided the template so to speak and steered me away from my usual inclinations. I was not apprehensive at all when I sat down to watch my video recording. Shockingly, I was satisfied with the results of my self assessment after all. I did cover at least ninety eight percent of the items listed without previous knowledge of these items which was encouraging to me. I will however try to be more conscious of the speed at which I speak as observed in my video. I tend to speak a bit fast. Also, the fact that I have a “Jamaican” accent somewhat can potentially be inhibitory to perfect communication. I appreciated the my partner’s assessment of my teaching and noted the points for improvement.

Looking back, it was amazing to see how very different my impression of myself likely would have been, if my self assessment was not guided by the categories listed on the form (clarity, organisation, interaction with participants for example). This affirmed in my mind the importance of setting ground rules or guidelines to follow in our undertakings and specifying our targets to be achieved. This will ensure one stays focussed, always with our eyes fixed on our goals, thus optimising the chances for success.