Mixed-method evaluation finds short-film World Café well received by clinical educators at three Taiwanese teaching hospitals

A short-film–based World Café was well received by 83 clinical educators who completed a post-course questionnaire after a faculty-development program in medical humanities at three Taiwanese teaching hospitals. Participants rated the instructional design, its suitability for faculty development, the value of adding short-film scenarios, its usefulness for future teaching and its perceived support for consensus-building on controversial issues highly, with mean scores ranging from 4.81 to 4.90. The questionnaire showed excellent internal consistency, with a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.927.

The mixed-method evaluation examined a 190-minute curriculum delivered across four sessions. A total of 115 clinical educators from multiple healthcare professions participated, while 83 completed the post-course questionnaire, giving a response rate of 72.2%. Quantitative analysis used descriptive statistics and internal-consistency reliability. The qualitative component included contemporaneous handwritten records from round-table discussions, along with transcripts of an audio-recorded plenary discussion and feedback session. The researchers analyzed these materials using Braun and Clarke’s six-step thematic analysis framework.

Qualitative findings were organized into four predefined themes: gender and communication; do-not-resuscitate and life-sustaining treatment; healthcare agents; and medical controversies and care. The reported discussions reflected interdisciplinary knowledge exchange and ethical reflection grounded in participants’ clinical experiences. The authors concluded that the format provided a structured setting for reflective engagement with complex ethical, legal and communication issues in medical humanities education. These conclusions were based on the program’s post-course acceptability and participants’ reported experiences rather than on evidence of improved clinical performance or patient outcomes.

The evaluation was limited to a single instructional approach conducted at three teaching hospitals in Taiwan. The reported quantitative results came from self-reported post-course satisfaction among 83 of 115 participants, and the design as described did not include a comparison group or measurement of longer-term changes in teaching behavior, ethical reasoning or clinical practice. The findings therefore support the program’s acceptability and its usefulness as a structured discussion format among the participating interdisciplinary educators, but they do not establish that it produced durable behavioral or clinical benefits. The article is presented as an early-access version subject to further editing before replacement by the final version of record.

Subject of Research: Mixed-method evaluation of a short-film–based World Café for medical humanities faculty development at three Taiwanese teaching hospitals

Article Title: Short-film–based world café for faculty development in medical humanities: a mixed-method evaluation across three teaching hospitals

Article References: Hsu, C.-S., Chen, C.-H., Liu, T.-H., Fu, C.-P., Chen, Y.-H., & Wang, C.-C. (2026). Short-film–based world café for faculty development in medical humanities: a mixed-method evaluation across three teaching hospitals. BMC Medical Education. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-026-10584-1

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1186/s12909-026-10584-1

Keywords: medical humanities, faculty development, World Café, short films, Taiwan, clinical educators, ethical reflection, interdisciplinary learning, mixed-method evaluation, medical education, Short-film, based