School of Medicine

My current appointment is a NIHR Clinical Lectureship. Within this I work as a Palliative Medicine clinician and Educational researcher. I also undertake teaching activities in both these roles. My PhD thesis used socio-cultural theories and empirical data to clarify the consequences of social interactions for student meaning-making and knowledge construction. I received ASME’s New Researcher Award in 2010. I am currently undertaking a realist synthesis (literature review) which seeks to understand how ‘success’ and ‘failure’ are conceptualised in the context of multimorbidity from multiple perspectives including qualified General Practitioners, medical students and doctors-in-training, patients and the public. This will identify what is known about optimal workplace practices for concurrent medical education and health service delivery and inform further research to guide improvements.

Outline of research interests and expertise

• Qualitative research covering a broad range of methodologies within a constructionist epistemology including thematic, discourse, and phenomenological approaches
• Methods including focus groups, discussion groups, interviews and ethnographic field work incorporating multiple participant perspectives
• Negotiation of workplace education and healthcare service delivery within specific contexts
• Multimorbidity, chronic illness and working with patients to deliver personalised appropriate care
• Real world’ social processes and interactions which influence healthcare education and service delivery
• Action research and realist synthesis
• Socio-cultural perspectives on education and clinical practice (Vygotskian tradition)
• Bi-directional use of theoretical constructs and empirical data in medical education research
• Working to understand what happens in ‘gaps’ between educational theory and educational practice, and/or educational theory and clinical practice

Workplace-based learning from ‘real’ patients including issues of risk and responsibility

Production of peer reviewed papers from doctoral thesis (Understanding authentic early experience in medical education)

Development of an Action Research Programme for education and health service delivery with respect to multimorbidity

Research in Medical Education: capacity building through medical support

ESRC Transitions seminar series participant

Research student supervision and mentoring

Sarah Yardley, Caragh Brosnan, Jane Richardson

The consequences of authentic early experience for medical students: creation of student M?tis

In press Medical Education

Sarah Yardley, Caragh Brosnan, Jane Richardson, Richard Hays

Authentic Early Experience in Medical Education: a socio-cultural analysis identifying important variables in learning interactions within workplaces

Accepted pending revisions AHSE

Sarah Yardley, Caragh Brosnan, Jane Richardson

Sharing practice: An example of using multiple qualitative methods to explore a complex educational intervention

In submission

Sarah Yardley, Alison Irvine, Janet LeFroy

Minding the gap between simulation and practice of communication skills: how do students compare and contrast patient interactions in different learning environments?

In submission

Sarah Yardley, Kate Watts, Jennifer Pearson, Jane Richardson

The ethics of reusing qualitative data: a comparison of perspectives from literature and practice

In submission

MEDICAL TEACHER VOL 34; NUMB 2 (2012) pp.e102-e115
Experiential learning: AMEE Guide No. 63
Yardley, S.; Teunissen, P. W.; Dornan, T.

MEDICAL TEACHER VOL 34; NUMB 2 (2012) pp.161-164
Experiential learning: Transforming theory into practice
Yardley, S.; Teunissen, P. W.; Dornan, T.

Sarah Yardley, Tim Dornan

Kirkpatrick’s levels and education ‘evidence’

Medical Education 2012; 46: 97-106.

Sarah Yardley, Sonia Littlewood, Steven Margolis, Albert Scherpbier, John Spencer, Valmae Ypinazar, Tim Dornan

What has changed in the evidence for early experience? Update of a BEME systematic review

Medical Teacher  2010; 32: 740-746.

Iain Yardley, Sarah Yardley, Albert Wu

How to discuss errors and adverse events with cancer patients

Current Oncology Reports 2010; 12: 253-260.

Sarah Yardley, Catherine Walshe, Alison Parr

Improving training in spiritual care: a qualitative study exploring patient perceptions of professional educational requirements

Palliative Medicine 23; 601-7.

Sarah Yardley, Jan Codling, Dai Roberts, Valerie O’Donnell, Sue Taylor

Experiences of 24-hour advice line services: A framework for good practice and meeting NICE guidelines

International Journal of Palliative Nursing 2009; 15: 266–71

Sarah Yardley, Carol Davis, Frances Sheldon

Receiving a Diagnosis of Lung Cancer: Patient Interpretations, Perceptions and Perspectives

Palliative Medicine 2001; 15: 379-386

Member of ASME Education Research Group

Secretary of Keele Education Research Group

Member of APM Education Group

Educational Interests:

Palliative Medicine

Medical Ethics

Qualitative Research including methodology

Action Research