Human Factors in Medicine Course

Foundations of Human Factors in Medicine

You’ll begin by building a shared understanding of what human factors mean in medical and operational contexts. This section introduces how leadership, communication, situational awareness, and decision-making influence outcomes, particularly when environments are unpredictable and stakes are high. Teaching explores why even highly skilled clinicians can struggle under pressure, and how human factors provide a framework for understanding performance beyond technical ability alone.

Leadership, Followership, and Team Dynamics

This module examines how teams function in challenging environments, and how leadership shifts depending on context, pressure, and group dynamics. Through facilitated discussion and practical experience, you’ll explore leadership styles, followership, and role clarity, gaining insight into how effective teams adapt, share responsibility, and make decisions when conditions change rapidly.

Situational Awareness and Decision-Making Under Pressure

In complex environments, decisions are rarely made with complete information. This section focuses on how situational awareness is built, lost, and recovered under stress. Teaching explores cognitive load, bias, and information processing, helping you recognise how pressure, fatigue, and uncertainty influence judgement and risk assessment in medical and operational settings.

Communication in High-Stress Environments

Clear communication becomes harder, not easier, under pressure. This module explores how communication breaks down in challenging environments, and how misunderstandings, assumptions, and hierarchy can affect team performance. Through experiential learning, you’ll examine how information is given, received, and interpreted, and how communication styles impact both individual and team effectiveness.

Understanding Self and Others Through the Strength Deployment Inventory (SDI)

As part of the course, you’ll complete the Strength Deployment Inventory (SDI), a psychometric model that explores how individuals are motivated when things are going well, and how behaviour shifts under pressure or conflict. This module helps you develop greater self-awareness, understand how others may approach problems differently, and recognise how motivation influences behaviour, teamwork, and leadership in demanding situations.

Performance, Conflict, and Behaviour Under Stress

When pressure increases, conflict often follows. This section explores how stress and conflict affect behaviour, decision-making, and team relationships. Teaching focuses on recognising conflict triggers, understanding behavioural patterns under stress, and developing strategies to manage tension constructively, allowing teams to maintain performance and cohesion when it matters most.

Reflection, Debrief, and Translating Learning Into Practice

Debrief and reflection form a core part of the learning process throughout the course. This module focuses on making sense of experience, encouraging honest discussion around performance, decision-making, and team dynamics. You’ll explore how insights from the course translate into real-world practice, whether in expedition settings, humanitarian work, emergency care, or everyday clinical environments.