Focus on Health Professional Education: A Multi-Professional Journal

‘Strategy’: The secret to writing a conference abstract in health professions education

Louise Beckingsale — 2024-03-28

Response to Zadow et al. “Dietitians' perspective: Fostering momentum for planetary health change”

Matti Gild — 2024-03-28

Interprofessional education for the next 50 years

Margo Brewer — 2024-03-28

Over the past two decades, there have been important changes to interprofessional education in Australia and New Zealand. Interprofessional education has slowly shifted from peripheral, small-scale education activities attended by volunteer students to become an expectation of many health professional courses to meet accreditation requirements and community expectations of a collaborative healthcare system. In Australia, interprofessional education curricula have been facilitated by increased accreditation expectations and a series of national large-scale funded projects. However, despite declarations of intent and direction, strategic implementation of nationwide recommendations has not been achieved. In New Zealand, large-scale funding has not been available to facilitate the implementation of interprofessional education in the professional courses. Instead, interprofessional education initiatives have been driven by a small group of champions. Furthermore, efforts to achieve the World Health Organization’s (2010) vision of interprofessional education across the education spectrum—to ensure the future and current health workforce have the competencies for interprofessional collaboration—have been hampered in our region by the focus on interprofessional education within tertiary education. This paper outlines the transnational status of interprofessional education and the role of the Australian and New Zealand Association for Health Professional Educators (ANZAHPE) and the Australasian Interprofessional Practice and Education Network (AIPPEN) in progress to date. We conclude with several suggestions for future interprofessional education across our two countries.

Blockbuster videos: Using complementary video-based learning to augment first-year block-model teaching

Nicholas Tripodi — 2024-03-26

Introduction: The first year of university is fraught with obstacles and challenges for students. Of particular concern is the often high level of student disengagement encountered at this juncture. Consequently, universities are reimagining what their first-year student experience can be like. The aims of this study were to, firstly, investigate the effects that complementary video-based practical skills resources have on first-year osteopathy student engagement and, secondly, if these effects differ in block-model when compared to traditional-model delivery format.

Methods: This study utilised a two-part mixed-method sequential exploratory design consisting of a quantitative and qualitative survey and focus-group interviews. The quantitative data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics, while the qualitative data were thematically analysed.

Results: The results demonstrated that the majority of students found the video-based learning (VBL) activities to have an overall positive effect on their learning experience and that VBL improved their perceived psychomotor skill acquisition. Furthermore, the reported positive responses appear to be enhanced in an intensive block-model setting.

Conclusion: VBL appears to be a useful tool for clinical skills training in an intensive-style tertiary education setting. Further research should be performed to see if this effect is seen across other health professions courses.

Student perspectives on health informatics in a medical curriculum: A case study

Hermaleigh Townsley — 2024-03-28

Introduction: Health informatics (HI) is the study and practice of technology used to improve the quality and efficiency of healthcare. Formal HI teaching lacks visibility in most Australasian medical schools. In this study, medical students collected data from their peers and recent graduates on the teaching and learning of HI to inform development of a needs-based integrated HI curriculum.

Methods: This mixed-methods case study of our medical degree program used clinically relevant vignettes to explore student confidence and opinions on HI. Current HI learning was benchmarked against recommendations. Recent graduates from University of Otago Medical School participated in an online survey (n = 26), and five focus group interviews of final-year medical students (n = 17) were carried out by a peer student.

Results: More than half of the participants surveyed felt confident in most HI topics, though many were less confident in telemedicine, evaluating electronic resources for patient use, data communication and data storage. Most students recalled learning some HI principles and agreed these should be integrated within their degree. Students highlighted that HI curriculum development should consider students’ self-identity as digital natives and the need for clinically situated, relevant and authentic learning to avoid tensions between theoretical HI concepts and clinical environments.

Conclusion: Medical students are critical consumers of potential HI curriculum content and expressed clear preferences for clinically relevant and up-to-date HI content. Key challenges in developing an HI curriculum will be ensuring a student-centered, authentic, contemporary and future-focused curriculum, with relevance demonstrated to digital native students.

Navigating genomic testing: Evaluation of an e-learning module with general practitioners

Bronwyn Nicole Terrill — 2024-03-28

Background: Primary care, or general, practitioners (GPs) are increasingly expected to communicate with and support their patients through genetic or genomic testing. However, GPs worldwide report a lack of knowledge about genetics and what constitutes a genetic or genomic test. Few Australian educational resources for medical practitioners address core capabilities in genetics or genomics.

Methods: We developed and evaluated a 90-minute online education module, Navigating Genomic Testing in General Practice, hosted online for 12 months. The module aimed to increase GPs’ awareness and knowledge of genomics, increase confidence in their capability to support genomic testing and foster intention to utilise that knowledge. GPs residing and practising in Australia who completed the module also completed a mandatory post-module survey. They were then invited to complete a behavioural intention survey and participate in an interview.

Results: Between December 2018 and 2019, 216 Australian GPs completed the module and mandatory survey. Fourteen GPs went on to complete the optional survey. Most Australian GPs who completed the module reported gaining knowledge that was relevant to their practice (n = 215, 99.5%) and entirely met their learning needs (n = 168, 77.8%). Respondents of the optional survey (n = 14) indicated that confidence in their capability significantly increased post module, together with intention to support patients undergoing genomic testing.

Conclusion: GPs in this study reported increased confidence, ability and intent, which are factors that can lead to changes in behaviour. Our findings support use of this type of online course as an educational tool to help GPs navigate genomics as it increasingly impacts their practice.

Teaching manual handling through risk assessment empowers the nursing team to provide safe mobility-related care: A qualitative analysis

Helen Kugler — 2024-03-28

Introduction: Mobilisation of hospital patients is important for their functioning, and nurses play an important role in providing assistance. Manual handling training programs aim to help nurses to move patients safely, but most do not include dynamic risk assessment. We aimed to explore the experiences of members of the nursing team working in inpatient wards in a private hospital who participated in the manual handling training program Risk Assessment for moving Individuals SafEly (RAISE).

Methods: Members of the nursing team who attended a 4-hour dynamic risk assessment training program led by physiotherapists participated in one of two focus groups guided by semi-structured questions 4 months post training. Focus groups were facilitated by an experienced qualitative researcher (physiotherapist).

Results: Three themes emerged: (1) empowerment, (2) role and (3) implementation. The training session improved the nurses’ confidence and empowerment to employ a risk assessment model for mobility-related care, which was central to their role. Organisational factors, including cluttered environments, equipment and staffing challenges, were identified as the key barriers to implementation.

Conclusion: Risk assessment manual handling training was perceived to improve confidence and empower the nursing team to provide safe mobility-related care. It is recommended that training sessions be relatively short; provide refresher training and consistent access to training within departments across the target health service; and take into consideration organisational factors that may affect implementation.

Improving knowledge of quality and safety among general and acute care medicine advanced trainees through a brief quality improvement workshop

Ar Kar Aung — 2024-03-28

Introduction: Quality and safety is a core competency, yet there are limited formalised quality improvement (QI) courses for physician trainees offered in Australia.

Methods: An introductory QI workshop was conducted for trainees at the Internal Medicine Society of Australia and New Zealand (IMSANZ) Conference 2022. The workshop covered principles of improvement science, QI tools and plan-do-study-act (PDSA) cycles. The contents were delivered through a small-group experiential learning format. Pre- and post-workshop surveys were administered to evaluate the participants’ perceptions and improvement in QI knowledge domains.

Results: Thirty-five trainees attended the workshop. Of all respondents, none had received formal QI training previously. Statistically significant improvements in nearly all QI knowledge domains were noted in the post-workshop evaluation along with improvement in participants’ motivation to further learn QI processes relevant to their vocation.

Conclusion: An introductory workshop can significantly improve knowledge and motivation to further learn QI amongst physician trainees.

Immersed in scholarly projects: Upskilling our future medical workforce

Bernadette Ward — 2024-03-28

Introduction: Much has been written about the need for medical students to have research skills. Increasing numbers of medical schools are incorporating compulsory research experiences to increase research literacy. However, little is known about the student perceptions of, and outcomes from, those programs. We aimed to examine medical students' perceptions of a compulsory 6-week scholarly project at a large Australian university. There was a particular focus on comparing students’ perceptions based on their prior research experience.

Methods: A cross-sectional study design was used to survey 418 final-year medical students. Responses were analysed using descriptive and bivariate statistics.

Results: One hundred and eleven students responded to the survey (27% of the cohort). Fifty-one percent had prior research experience. The majority of respondents perceived they had enhanced their confidence (69%) and research skills (74%), and as a result of this unit, 62% reported enhanced willingness to participate in future research projects. Students produced a variety of outputs in addition to their assessment requirements. Students without prior experience were significantly more likely to report they were suitably challenged and their project had enhanced their skills in interpreting and applying evidence.

Conclusion: We found that short (6-week) scholarly projects enhanced final-year medical students’ perceived ability to interpret and apply evidence. Many students also reported an increased willingness to participate in future research activities. As clinician research literacy and engagement are thought to improve healthcare performance and health outcomes, scholarly experiences in the final year of medical school have the potential to enhance graduate enquiry to improve healthcare.

Interprofessional education: Building social capital among faculty. Are we there yet?

Christie van Diggele — 2024-03-28

Introduction: Interprofessional education (IPE) is advocated by governments, health professional bodies and universities as key to health professional education and improvement in patient safety. Although many universities have implemented scaffolded IPE curricular models across multiple disciplines, few have reported on faculty perception of this approach. This study sought to explore faculty perception in response to a new IPE curriculum model using the theoretical lens of social capital theory.

Methods: In 2021, 24 key University of Sydney Faculty of Medicine and Health (FMH) academics (from nursing, medical imaging, pharmacy, oral health, dentistry, applied science, health science, dietetics, medical science and occupational therapy) involved in the delivery of IPE were invited to participate in individual interviews. Using the conceptual lens of social capital theory, framework analysis was used to categorise themes in the data.

Results: In total, 46% (n = 11) of invited FMH faculty were interviewed. Positive elements to the implementation of the curriculum model included a feeling of connectedness, recognition of a scaffolded approach to IPE integrated in existing coursework and growing interest of early career academics in IPE. However, a number of challenges were revealed, including structural barriers in course design, timetabling, misunderstanding regarding the IPE curricula and inequity in distribution of workload.

Conclusion: Social capital theory provided a useful framework to consider the perceived enablers and barriers to the newly established IPE curriculum. Although the findings indicate that faculty felt positive about implementing the IPE curriculum, a number of barriers were identified, highlighting the need for increased faculty training and broader engagement in development of IPE curricula.

Editorial, Vol 25.1: Digital technologies in health: Implications for health professional education

Karen Scott — 2024-03-28