Search

OBJECTIVE: Medical specialist trainees report dissatisfaction with both the usefulness and timing of feedback provided following summative examinations. This study aimed to explore ophthalmology trainee and supervisor experiences of feedback following final summative examination (the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists Advanced Clinical Examination (RACE)). METHODS: Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with ophthalmology trainees who had recently sat RACE (2017-2021) (n = 19) and supervising ophthalmologists who support trainees to prepare for RACE (n = 10). Interview data were thematically analyzed. RESULTS: Two themes were identified. Inadequate feedback related to trainee experiences receiving feedback relating to examination performance that was insufficient and unhelpful in identifying gaps in learning, explaining the reasons for failure and supporting preparation for resitting. Inability to contextualize feedback encompassed trainee and supervisor concerns regarding the inability to review examination manuscripts after sitting the examination, the absence of marking criteria, rubrics and model answers to understand the passing standard and the lack of opportunity to discuss performance with examiners. CONCLUSIONS: Detailed, individualized task-level and process-level feedback on examination performance is needed for all trainees. Opportunities to view examination manuscripts, marking criteria and model answers, as well as speak with examiners, would improve transparency of the assessment process, enhance feedback and improve trainee success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To explore health student perspectives of rural and remote placements during the early stages of the COVID‐19 pandemic. Setting: Australia. Participants: Allied health, nursing and medical students with a planned rural or remote placement between February and October 2020. Design Semi‐structured interviews (n = 29) with data thematically analysed. Results: Five main themes emerged from student experiences: (1) 'Do we go? Don't we go? Like how much risk is involved?' related to student concerns regarding acquiring and transmitting COVID‐19 on placement; (2) 'We are sort of just standing at the door trying to watch' encompassed student perceptions of missed clinical learning opportunities in response to health and safety measures related to COVID‐19; (3) 'I, as a student, sort of fell under the radar' related to student perceptions of suboptimal supervision; (4) 'It was a bit more difficult to engage with that wider community' recognised student feelings of social disconnection and their lack of opportunity for community immersion; and (5) 'We felt like we got something that is more than we expected' emerged from student reflections on training during the pandemic and alternative placements (virtual, simulated and non‐clinical) that exceeded expectations for learning. Conclusions: Although most students were willing and able to undertake their rural or remote placement in some form during the early stages of the pandemic and identified unanticipated learning benefits, students recognised lost opportunities to build clinical skills, become culturally aware and connect with rural communities. It remains unknown how these rural and remote placement experiences will impact rural intention and in turn, rural workforce development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The Specialist Training Program (STP) is a commonwealth funding initiative to support specialist medical training positions in regional, rural and remote areas, and in private settings. The program helps to improve the skills and distribution of the specialist medical workforce by providing trainees experience of a broader range of healthcare settings. Objective: To examine the benefits and challenges of ophthalmology training delivered by the STP in regional, rural, remote, and/or private settings across Australia. Design: Qualitative design involving semi‐structured in‐depth interviews with thirty‐two participants experienced in the delivery of ophthalmology training at STP posts including ophthalmology trainees (n = 8), STP supervisors and clinical tutors (n = 16), and other stakeholders (n = 8). Findings: Training delivered at STP posts was reportedly beneficial for ophthalmology trainees, their supervisors and the broader community given it enabled exposure to regional, rural, remote and private settings, access to unique learning opportunities, provided workforce support and renewal, and affordable ophthalmic care. However, all participants also reported challenges including difficulties achieving work/life balance, unmet training expectations, a lack of professional support, and financial and administrative burden. Malalignment between trainee preferences for STP posts, low STP literacy and limited regional, rural and remote training experiences were also seen as missed opportunities to foster future rural ophthalmic workforce development. Discussion: The STP improves access to ophthalmic care in underserved populations while enabling valuable rural and/or private practice exposure for medical specialist trainees and workforce support for supervising ophthalmologists. Conclusion: Efforts are needed to improve the quality of training experiences provided at STP posts and post sustainability. Although research is needed to investigate the longer‐term benefits of the STP to rural and/or private workforce recruitment and retention, RANZCO should develop further regional, rural and remote STP posts to help realise future rural practice intention amongst ophthalmology trainees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to explore the challenges and strategies of support coordinators tasked with connecting National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) participants with allied health services in Tasmania, a largely rural and island state of Australia. Twenty-five registered support coordinators currently supporting Tasmanian NDIS participants participated in semi-structured interviews, with interview data coded and thematically analysed. Support coordinators unanimously reported difficulties connecting NDIS participants to allied health services, with a lack of registered allied health providers and providers with specialist skills and experience with complex disabilities. Support coordinators reported lengthy waiting lists for NDIS participants and compromised service quality, which in some cases led to a loss of participant functioning and future funding. Building positive relationships with allied health providers and persistence were perceived as critical to facilitate allied health service access, as was leaving no stone unturned and looking beyond the island for allied health services. Support coordinators play a critical role in connecting NDIS participants to available services through aggressively canvassing local allied health providers, as well as harnessing interstate allied health provider capacity through novel means. Broad workforce strategies are needed to recruit and retain allied health professionals to the Tasmanian NDIS registered provider market. Policy development is also needed to ensure quality and effective support coordination for NDIS participants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bereavement care practice guidelines assist in delivering high‐quality bereavement care. However, the quality of published guidelines is unknown. A systematic review was conducted to identify and evaluate the quality of the process used to develop bereavement care practice guidelines using the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation (AGREE II) instrument. A keyword search was conducted in MEDLINE‐Complete, CINAHL‐Complete, Health‐Source (Nursing/Academic Edition), Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection, and an internet search engine in October 2017. Sixteen guidelines with differing scope and purpose but similar core values were identified from the grey literature and then appraised at high quality (n = 1), moderate quality (n = 4), or low quality (n = 11). The domains "clarity of presentation" and "scope and purpose" achieved the highest scores (mean ± SD 71.0 ± 27.6% and 64.4 ± 37.5%, respectively), while "editorial independence" showed the lowest mean score (9.2 ± 13.3%). While few of the bereavement care practice guidelines met the AGREE II quality standards related to their development process, neither the quality of the content of each guideline nor the in‐context application was assessed by the AGREE II instrument. Ongoing development of practice guidelines may benefit from consideration and application of the framework outlined in the AGREE II or similar appraisal instrument. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]