Five resources to improve your coaching in the age of COVID-19

By Robin Mackin (@Robin_Mackin)
Originally Published, March 21, 2020

Refining your coaching skills in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis can be applicable in a number of ways.  Perhaps you are at home in some form of isolation and looking for a professional development activity to help take your mind off of the crisis.  Alternatively, the ability to effectively coach trainees and colleagues during the COVID-19 crisis is imperative.  As we prepare physicians to be ready to work outside of their scope of practice, effective coaching will be a huge asset to their success.

Here are five resources that I’ve curated that you might find useful in upping your coaching game.

1. Coaching to Competence: 5 online interactive modules.

Check out these interactive modules from the Royal College.  A very nice overview of the RX-OCR framework.  3/5 modules are active on the website.  MOC credits are available.

2. #CoachToolkit from Coach.ca

This is a sports/athletics website that has a great collection of clips pertaining to important coaching principles on their website. From the literature we know there are some differences between coaching in athletics and medicine, but learning from other fields can still be a great way to find new ideas and techniques. They also have a great YourTube channel that you can check out.

3. Coaching in Medical Education: Taking your Clinical Supervision to the Next Level

A quick read that nicely summarizes and defines the roles of coaches in medical education.

4. Top athletes and singers have coaches. Should you?

Thought-provoking piece by surgeon and journalist Atul Gawande. This content is also covered in his TED Talk from 2017.

5. The Leader as Coach.

A nice Harvard Business review discussing the transition of the role of leaders to coaches in the business world.  Very applicable to medicine, especially in times of strain and stress within the healthcare setting.

About the author:

Dr. Robin Mackin (@Robin_Mackin) is currently completing an academic fellowship with the Department of Pediatrics at McMaster University (@Mac_Peds).  She completed her medical school at the University of Ottawa and her Pediatric residency at McMaster University.  She is concurrently working as a locum Pediatrician at McMaster Children’s, Trillium Health Partners and Stanton Hospital in Yellowknife.  She is a passionate clinician educator with an interest in coaching, mentorship, assessment and international education.