Inge Schabort: My journey through the Master’s in Evidence-Based Health Care

Inge Schabort is an alumna of the MSc in Evidence-Based Health Care. A physician by background, Inge is currently a full-time Academic Family Physician and Professor and Postgraduate International Medical Graduate (IMG) Director in the Department of Family Medicine at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada.

Before the MSc: My journey in medicine

Following medical school graduation, I pursued and completed degrees in Medical Biochemistry and Epidemiology while working full-time as a physician. Clinical and research needs shaped my next steps, which included completing additional training in Internal Medicine and Obstetrics and Gynaecology and undertaking residency training in Pathology, all while working full-time.

The political situation led me to Canada, and while under Ontario International Medical Graduates (IMG) policy at the time, I was required to compete as an IMG to repeat my final year of medical school in Canada and then again apply for an IMG Postgraduate position to re-complete a residency in an underserviced discipline. Fortunately, I eventually succeeded and was accepted into a residency in Family Medicine at McMaster University. Upon completing my residency, I was recruited as full-time faculty and appointed as Assistant Professor. I began my full-time clinician-educator role within a programme training 200 residents at any given time.

Discovering evidence-based medicine 

As a full-time physician, clinician and full-time faculty member, I have taught evidence-based medicine (EBM), quality assurance and quality improvement to residents on a weekly basis for several years. Additionally, I have supervised dozens of resident research projects. In my role as Postgraduate IMG Director, I often provide training in EBM to international medical graduates who have not had many opportunities to develop EBM skills. As Academic Half Day Coordinator of the residency program, I was responsible for developing objectives and curriculum in an evidence-based and competency-based education (CBE) format.

While writing curriculum for my teaching, which included instruction on shared decision-making between physicians and patients, I realised that the existing EBM curriculum lacked a format congruent with accreditation standards and residency competency-based education.

So, when my university granted me a sabbatical after promotion to Associate Professor, I applied for a Master’s in Health Professions Education from the University of Maastricht in the Netherlands and Master’s in Evidence-Based Health Care at Oxford. When I was accepted to both programmes, I decided to pursue them concurrently, not only for my own learning and professional development but also to join an international community of practice in Evidence-Based Health Care and Health Professions Education.

Inge teaching a session on procedural skills

Life on the MSc in Evidence-Based Health Care

Because I routinely work 100 plus-hour weeks to meet my clinical, education and academic commitments, I was grateful that the part-time format of the MSc in EBHC enabled me to take a week’s vacation to attend modules in Oxford and then complete my assignment over the following six weekends back home when I was not on call, while continuing to work full-time. During the week in Oxford, the time difference allowed me to answer emails and review work messages and patient lab reports at night.

During each module visit to Oxford, I met with my dissertation supervisor to discuss, decide and refine my dissertation topic and research question. My supervisor, Professor Carl Heneghan (also a physician), offered invaluable guidance, insight, support and resources. Additionally, the Bodleian librarian Nia Wyn Roberts assigned to me was absolutely amazing and met with me several times during my visits to Oxford.

The community of practice I became part of in Oxford has led to relationships with peers across the world. Each module introduced innovative ideas, opportunities for reflection and new insights into medicine and EBHC.

When the time came to register my dissertation, I felt well-prepared and fully supported. Prof Heneghan and I decided on a systematic review on Predictors for Success and Failure in International Medical Graduates (IMGs) internationally - a prognostic factor study. This topic was a natural progression from my academic role and Master’s thesis at Maastricht, which focused on the IMG match in Canada (subsequently published) and my previous scholarly work supporting evidence-based IMG selection internationally.

This systematic review is the first of its kind on the topic, encompassing 1,955 studies. I registered the review on PROSPERO and recently published it (read it here). Completing this scholarly work has positioned me as a recognised expert in IMG workforce evidence and policy on an international scale. I have presented at many international meetings on the topic.