‘It’s the only training I’ve ever done where there was no hierarchy’

• May 30, 2024
• Esther Waterhouse

This comment was made by a delegate at our first Medical Improv study day. She was
surprised to find that she didn’t need to state her profession, level of training, perceived
competence or indeed anything about her professional self. At most workshops, she explained,
she is keenly aware of being ‘junior’ or ‘less experienced’ – and therefore, perhaps, less skilled.

In a medical improv workshop, we are focussed on experience and reflection. We choose
games and exercises to allow delegates to feel the impact of behaviours and language. A game
of ‘passing a sound round a circle’, for example, allows us all to see and feel the impact a
different stance, or a change in eye contact, can make. An exercise where we create new proverbs, one word at a time, challenges us to think about how we listen to and support each other.

To do this effectively, we all need to be in it together. Our professional ‘starting point’ (often
defined in courses as our role, seniority and previous training) is irrelevant. What we strive for
as facilitators is reflection and consequent learning, confidence to try something new and a
group spirit on the day that supports all of this. So for the duration of the day, we are not doctors
or nurses, Band 8s or Band 5s, chief executives or consultants. We’re just people, learning new
skills and insights together.