Article: When I say… appreciative inquiry

Authors: Bharat Kumar, Manish Suneja, Melissa Swee

Journal: Med Educ. 2023 Nov;57(11):1006-1007

Excerpt:
‘This learner is fantastic and is a pleasure to have around. However, he has a problem with discussing sensitive topics with patients about cancer screening. But he has improved over the past year’. These types of statements are commonly encountered throughout the spectrum of medical education. In fact, whether at the individual level or the organisational level, they epitomise the ‘diagnostic approach’ of medical education, where people and systems are seen as collections of problems that need to be fixed with the intent of rectification. Appreciative inquiry (AI) is an alternative to this diagnostic approach.

AI is a term that describes a set of models and frameworks that facilitates positive change through the collaborative engagement of stakeholders and leverage of their strengths. AI was originally conceived in 1987 by David Cooperrider and Suresh Srivastava as a management strategy to enhance employee engagement through positive psychology. Over the years, it has been modified and applied to qualitative research, program evaluation, motivational coaching, quality improvement and more. Regardless of these adaptations, AI emphasises that, when an organisation is seen as a living, working organism in need of nurturing, it becomes alive with possibility and positivity.

Link to journal online: https://asmepublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/medu.15140