Drama in the classroom: fitness to practise

The fitness to practise hearing was brought to students at the University of East Anglia. The day was a mock up, as close to real events as possible, with interim orders and substantive hearings. It enabled students to engage with aspects of practice in a different way from the traditional 'chalk and talk' methods. The cases chosen reflected all disciplines. Electronic voting systems were used to determine what the students felt outcomes should have been, and then they had an opportunity to hear what outcome the panel decided upon. Evaluative data were obtained following the event to see what impact this approach had on students' learning and their appreciation of the importance of professional practice. The comments we received were overwhelmingly positive and as a result we shall be repeating the day for students, supervisors of midwives and post registration nurses and midwives.