Search

Healthcare profession students participate in a range of clinical placements within multidisciplinary health care settings. Often these placements offer students opportunities to participate in activities with staff and/or students from other healthcare disciplines. Although health service staff generally recognise the importance of clinical placements for student learning, they sometimes feel overwhelmed by workload and resource constraints. As a consequence, the potential of the clinical team to contribute to student learning may not be fully realised. A key element of successful clinical placement programs across all healthcare disciplines is a coordinated approach to the development and management of complex university/health service partnerships. Explicit mechanisms to support clinical team members in their teaching roles can also contribute to develop and sustain staff capacity for student supervision, as appropriate recognition of clinical staff contributes to student learning. Twelve tips are offered for consideration by universities, health services and clinical staff when planning and implementing student clinical placements in multidisciplinary healthcare settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: As an introduction to peer observation of teaching, a multi-disciplinary program of peer observation partnerships was implemented across Faculty of Health Sciences. The ‘Colleague Development Program’ focussed on formative feedback and on promoting collegiality within and across traditional discipline boundaries. Aims: To describe the development, implementation, and evaluation of the Colleague Development Program. Methods: Participants asked a trusted colleague to observe their teaching. Feedback on good practice and suggestions for improvement were sought. Colleague observations were guided by specific learning objectives articulated by participants. Following the teaching observation/s, the colleague observer and the participant discussed the extent to which the participant's learning objectives had been achieved. A written summary of mutually agreed outcomes was prepared. Program evaluation included anonymous participant questionnaire and focus group discussions. Results: Forty-two staff enrolled in the program with 23 completing all elements and participating in the evaluation. Participants reported increased confidence in teaching, confirmation of good practice, exposure to new ideas, and a greater sense of institutional support and collegiality. Conclusions: Situating peer evaluation within a collegial partnership overcame participants’ concerns about being the subject of ‘evaluation’ and ‘criticism’ by emphasising existing collegiality and trust amongst peers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses a study which sought to determine the medical education priorities of parents who use complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) for their children. According to the article, the study found that CAM allowed parents more choice and control in the management of their family's health care, that medical education should include a focus on CAM and that CAM demonstrated the basic principles of patient-centered health care.

In 1998 an innovative, inter-university child health learning programme involving a wide range of community child healthcare agencies was developed and evaluated. There is little information available on the progress over time of similar curriculum innovations. The programme was re-evaluated in 2003 regarding continued effectiveness. Programme records between 1998 and 2003 were reviewed together with programme coordinator recollections. Agency staff and student feedback questionnaire responses were compared for 1998 and 2003. Agency flexibility in programming and capacity for student visits decreased between 1998 and 2003. Fourteen of the 36 agencies offering placements in 2003 had been with the programme in 1998. In only five of these agencies was the contact person for the programme unchanged. Despite high agency turnover, programme evaluations and student reports and presentations consistently supported achievement of programme aims. Although the programme continued to meet its specific aims, a number of agency factors outside the control of the programme coordinators posed real threats to long-term programme success. Practice points Community programmes have significant potential to enhance medical student learning. Explicit articulation of aims assists programme development and evaluation. High staff turnover, increasing client loads and decreasing resources threaten the long-term success of community-based student education. Better definition of the benefits of community learning programmes would strengthen the case for improved resource support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Medical students develop the skills required to interview parents and children through practice and by receiving feedback. Parental perceptions of medical student skills in child health interviews can be used to enhance student learning. To integrate maternal perspectives of medical student interviews into student learning, and to compare student and maternal evaluations of simulated medical student interviews. A sample of 45 medical students viewed 2 standardised videotapes in which a ‘medical student’ interviewed the mother of a sick child. The videotapes demonstrated contrasting levels of ‘student’ clinical competence and patient-centredness. After each interview students were asked to rate their satisfaction and recall of information as if they were the mother in the interview. Student satisfaction was measured using the Interpersonal Skills Rating Scale (IPS). Recall of interview information was assessed by questionnaire, with student answers coded independently before analysis. Following both videotapes, students reviewed transcripts of the interviews and discussed their evaluations. Student responses were compared with maternal satisfaction and recall responses after viewing of the same videotapes. Student IPS ratings were higher following the high clinical competence, high patient-centred interview ( P < 0.0001). Student recall of specific information was greater for some items following the high clinical competence, high patient-centred interview, but was lower for others. Maternal and student satisfaction and recall were similar following the 2 interviews. Students and mothers agreed on the qualities of a successful interview. Experiencing an interview through the ‘eyes’ of a mother provided students with valuable insights regarding interview skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: It is widely accepted that the quality of doctor interviewing skills is an important determinant of health care outcomes. Two interviewing skills contributing significantly to optimal health outcomes are the clinical competence of the interviewer and the use of patient-centred techniques. However, the relative importance of these to health outcomes is unknown.Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the relative effect on maternal recall and satisfaction of medical student clinical competence and use of patient-centred interview techniques.Methods: Sixty-nine mothers of children attending the Paediatric Medical Out-patient Clinic, Women's and Children's Hospital, South Australia agreed to participate in the study, with 60 successfully completing the study. They viewed two of four standardized 'medical student' interview videotapes in which the level of clinical competence and patient-centredness were varied independently. All other interview variables were controlled. Each mother rated the interviews by questionnaire (balanced incomplete block design, each interview rated by 30 mothers). Maternal satisfaction with the 'student' interview was measured using the Medical Interview Satisfaction Scale (MISS) and the Interpersonal Skills Rating Scale (IPS). Maternal recall of interview information was assessed by questionnaire, with maternal answers coded independently before analysis.Results: Significant, independent effects of clinical competence and patient-centredness were observed with both MISS (F = 42.1, P < 0.0001) and IPS (F = 49.3, P < 0.0001) scores. The effect of clinical competence was stronger than that of patient-centredness. Maternal recall for specific information was greater for some items following the more clinically competent interviews, but was lower for others. There was no association between maternal recall and the level of patient-centredness demonstrated by the 'student'.Conclusion: Clinical competence was a more significant determinant of maternal evaluations of medical student interviews and maternal recall of information than was patient-centredness. High levels of both patient-centredness and clinical competence were associated with the highest maternal satisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Despite interprofessional learning (IPL) being widely recognised as important for health care professions, embedding IPL within core curriculum remains a significant challenge. The aim of this study was to identify tensions associated with implementing IPL curriculum for educators and clinical supervisors, and to examine these findings from the perspective of activity theory and the expansive learning cycle (ELC). Methods: We interviewed 12 faculty staff and ten health practitioners regarding IPL. Interviews were semi-structured. Following initial thematic analysis, further analysis was undertaken to characterise existing activity systems and the contradictions associated with implementing IPL. These findings were then mapped to the ELC. Results: Five clusters of contradictions were identified: the lack of a workable definition; when and what is best for students; the leadership hot potato; big expectations of IPL; and, resisting cultural change. When mapped to the ELC, it was apparent that although experienced as challenges, these contradictions had not yet generated sufficient tension to trigger 'break through' novel thinking, or contemplation and modelling of new solutions. Conclusions: The application of activity theory and the ELC offered an approach in which the most troublesome challenges might be reframed as opportunities for change. Seemingly intractable problems could be worked on to identify and address underlying fears and assumptions. If sufficient tension can be generated, an ELC could then be triggered. In reframing challenges as opportunities, the power of tensions and contradictions as potential levers for effective change might be more successfully accessed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the processes for identifying and supporting students with poor academic performance. It informs that the faculty of health sciences at the University of Adelaide offers a variety of programmes which includes medicine, dentistry, health sciences and nursing. It states that assessment of student academic progress at different year levels in each of these programs is difficult due to large classes and differing progression requirements.

A letter to the editor is presented which discusses higher education standards and medical education in Australia.

Background: Doctors develop the skills needed to interview parents and children in paediatric settings by practice and by receiving feedback during their medical training. Interviewed parents are ideally placed to provide evaluations of these skills. If parents, as consumers of health care services, are to be consulted, it is important to determine whether factors other than interview skills affect their evaluations., Objectives: Our aim was to examine the relationship between maternal satisfaction ratings of student doctor interviews, and maternal and child characteristics., Methods: Sixty mothers of children attending the paediatric medical out-patient clinic at the Women's and Children's Hospital, South Australia were allocated randomly to rate one of four video-taped final year student doctor interviews (15 mothers per interview). The level of skills displayed by the student doctor differed in each interview. Maternal satisfaction was measured using the Medical Interview Satisfaction Scale (MISS) and the Interpersonal Skills Rating Scale (IPS), and interview ratings were compared for a number of maternal and child characteristics., Results: No significant associations were observed between maternal satisfaction ratings and any maternal or child characteristics other than lower satisfaction associated with previous experience of a real student doctor interview (P <0.01). The interview seen by mothers predicted 53% (MISS) and 65% (IPS) of the variance in maternal satisfaction ratings. After controlling for the interview type, the maternal and child characteristics studied predicted 17% additional variance in MISS scores and 7% in IPS scores., Conclusion: The quality of the interview skills demonstrated was the principle determinant of maternal satisfaction ratings.