Educational and Supportive Resources

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Introduction

This webpage contains a wealth of educational and supportive resources for those who are neurodiverse, neurodivergent or want to better understand how they can support their colleagues. 

It contains an array of useful internal and external resources, including eLearning, blog posts, research articles, websites and much more. 

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Courses for Trainees

Our Professional Skills Courses support the development of non-clinical professional behaviours and competencies some of which have benefits for traits commonly associated with neurodiversity, such as planning and organisation, wellbeing and stress, rejection sensitivity and self-criticality. 

We encourage you to review the full suite of Professional Skills Courses on offer in case more of interest or benefit, but particularly recommend the following options. For more information about  Professional Skills courses and for guidance on booking a course, please see our Professional Skills Courses webpage. 

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Communication in the Real World

This participative course covers a wide range of topics to help you improve your communication skills and feel more confident at work. You will have the opportunity to practice and will receive constructive feedback on your communication skills in a friendly and supportive learning environment. 

Topics covered include: Understanding how communication difficulties arise and how to handle them when they do; Communication models and strategies; Becoming more assertive at work; Communicating effectively with colleagues, patients and relatives; Breaking bad news; Giving constructive feedback and responding positively to critical feedback; Identifying your preferred team role; Understanding conflict resolution styles and how to respond effectively to conflict at work. The course is highly participative and practical.

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Doing What Matters: Essential Skills for Effective Learning

Do you sometimes struggle to get everything done? Is engaging with your e-portfolio a challenge? Do you find it tricky to identify the most important activity in a long to-do list? If you answer yes to any of these questions, then this course is for you! 

Delivered via a series of group coaching sessions, this course provides a safe and supportive learning space where you can increase your self-awareness and confidence and take away a range of tools and tips to improve your organisation and task management which you can practically implement in a sustainable way.

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Focus | Plan | Do It: Improve Productivity and Reduce Stress

How can we manage an ever-increasing, complex workload, during unprecedented change and still have time for personal life?

Positive People created this hands-on programme to support busy staff at all levels, providing an approach which puts you in control, improves productivity and reduces stress. This programme will provide both a methodology to stay on top of work and also hands-on, live help to optimise a range of corporate productivity tools (eg. Microsoft Outlook, To Do, Planner and Onenote. There will also be optional support for Google-based users).

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Interpersonal Communication Skills

A two-day course aimed at developing communication skills and expanding confidence in dealing with a range of communication challenges with patients, relatives and colleagues. There will be opportunities to practice, in a safe environment, a variety of approaches to tackle these issues. The learning will be problem based and experiential.

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Managing Imposter Syndrome

‘Imposters’ suffer chronic self-doubt and are unable to internalise their accomplishments, no matter how successful they are in their field. This phenomenon can get in the way of professional progress and job satisfaction, which time out of training can exacerbate.

This course provides a safe and supportive group setting to explore what imposter syndrome is, how it may affect you and what you can do about it.

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Overcoming Unhealthy Perfectionism 

This course will examine and increase your understanding of healthy and unhealthy perfectionism traits within healthcare, including approaches to identify your perfectionist traits to understand when they can be beneficial and address less helpful ones. 

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Tips and Tricks Series: Managing Stress and Overwhelm

This workshop will develop your understanding of stress and overwhelm and provide you with practical skills to develop strategies for effective management of stress and overwhelm so you can thrive in your training and clinical work. 

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Tips and Tricks Series: Improving Prioritisation and Organisation

This workshop will develop your understanding of organisation and prioritisation and why they can be difficult to manage. You will develop practical skills, strategies and learn easy IT tricks you can apply to support effective organisation and task management, so you can thrive in your training and clinical work. 

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Tips and Tricks Series: Improving Concentration

This workshop will develop your understanding of concentration and why it can be difficult to manage. It will provide you with practical skills to develop strategies to increase concentration and focus so you can thrive in your training and clinical work. 

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Tips and Tricks Series: Effective Planning and Time Management

This session will develop your understanding of planning and time management and why they can be difficult to manage. It will provide you with practical skills to develop strategies to improve your approach to planning and time management so you can thrive in your training and clinical work. 

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eLearning for Trainees

 

Neurodiversity and Me

NHSE Yorkshire and Humber have a procured a ten-module personal development course called 'Neurodiversity and Me' from Genius Within.

Accessible to both trainers and postgraduate doctors and dentists in training, each module is informed by research that has identified neurodiverse strengths and challenges in clinical settings. 

The course will support you to identify what it is like to be at your best more of time, consider preventative models and strategies to meet your workplace and study needs, and encourage you to reflect on your own personal experiences to leverage your strengths. 

The focus of each module is provided below:

• Wellbeing and stress management
• Managing fatigue and burnout
• Achieving proactive communication
• Planning and prioritising work and education commitments
• Planning revision
• Memory and recalling information
• Concentration and focusing
• Literacy and numeracy
• Building reflective learning
• Building confidence, supporting motivation and meeting professional goals. 

Whether you choose to access the full course, or dip into those modules which are best suited to you, we hope you find the resource valuable. 

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eLearning for Educators and Medical Education Teams

Neurodiversity in the Workplace

This short eLearning course, provided by Lexxic, will support you to:

• Understand what neurodiversity is and how to talk about it.
• Use neuro-inclusive communication.
• Be able to distinguish between common neuro differences.
• Be encouraged to think about the unique strengths that neurodivergent individuals bring to the workplace.
• Understand how neuro differences affect individuals in the workplace.
• Be able to understand and explain the value of neurodiversity.
• Understand the key approaches in creating a neuro-inclusive workplace
• Be aware of workplace adjustments to empower neurodiversity in the workplace

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Neurodiversity Awareness for Line Managers

This short eLearning course, provided by Lexxic, will aid anybody involved in supporting postgraduate doctors and dentists in training to:

• Understand and explain the value that neurodivergent individuals bring to the workplace.
• Understand how neuro differences can impact individuals in the workplace.
• Discuss how neuro differences can manifest in individuals in the workplace, including possible gender differences.
• Explain good practices around supporting and empowering neurodivergent individuals in the workplace. 
• Suggest and implement workplace adjustments to support and empower neurodivergent team members.

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Other Resources

Podcast Episodes

NHSE Workforce Training and Education:

• Understanding Neurodiversity in Healthcare Education
• Dyslexia in Surgeons

 

Videos

NHSE Workforce Training and Education:

• Understanding Neurodiversity in Healthcare Education
• Dyslexia in Surgeons