Focus on Health Professional Education: A Multi-Professional Journal

Editorial FoHPE Journal Vol 25.4: Implementing work integrated learning early in health professional programs

Karen Scott — 2024-12-12

Attributes of a collaborative practitioner in the Australian healthcare system

Fiona Kent — 2024-12-12

Introduction: Interprofessional collaborative practice is required to organise healthcare around the individual needs and preferences of patients, carers and their families. In order to prepare graduates for interprofessional collaborative practice, the attributes required of health professionals must be made explicit, however at present, there is no consensus regarding the interprofessional competencies required of Australian health professional graduates. This study sought to articulate the current and future (or desired) attributes of a collaborative practitioner within the contemporary healthcare system.

Methods: Taking a constructivist approach, focus groups were conducted with 84 participants, including consumers, education providers and healthcare practitioners, to understand the attributes of a collaborative practitioner. Framework analysis was undertaken to summarise the conceptual, procedural and dispositional knowledge attributes that underpin collaborative practice now and into the future.

Results: Knowledge about patient centredness, healthcare roles and the healthcare system, skills in communication, the efficient use of digital technology, cultural awareness, teamwork, leadership and conflict management and the attributes of respect, trust, empathy and humility featured.

Conclusion: The results of this research establish the groundwork for the development of a collaborative practice competency framework for Australian healthcare practice.

Building gender and sexual diversity into case-based learning

Luke Uden — 2024-12-12

On a background of insufficient inclusion and calls for change, medical schools across Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand must work to build LGBTQIA+ health into their curricula. Due to the unique strengths of case-based learning (CBL)—including learning in the context of LGBTQIA+ individuals, providing a safe space to practice skills in inclusive care and reflect on biases and allowing for a focus on the structural and social determinants of health—we propose that CBL is an effective starting point for medical schools looking to maximise growth in students’ knowledge, skills and attitudes. We also discuss current LGBTQIA+ inclusion, strategies to integrate LGBTQIA+ health into the curriculum and CBL and the effects of such curricular interventions.

Vol 25 Reviewer acknowledgement

Jill Romeo — 2024-12-12

Early work-integrated learning experiences shaping Australia’s future health workforce

Roma Forbes — 2024-12-12

Self-perceived confidence and competence of medical students in treating patients with diverse sexualities and genders

Christine Mausolf — 2024-12-12

Introduction: Insufficient knowledge among health staff about people with diverse sexualities and genders (DSGs) can hinder access to care. This student-initiated project aimed to ascertain medical students’ self-perceived confidence and competence in treating patients with DSGs, identify student satisfaction with DSG curricular content and identify discrimination and/or biases.

Methods: In 2022, medical students from an Australian medical program were surveyed using an adapted medical student survey instrument used in the United States and Canada.

Results: The response rate of 15% (n = 91) included 70% heterosexual students. Respondents reported more confidence in treating patients with diverse sexualities (68%) compared to patients with diverse genders (41%). They reported greater competence in identifying their own implicit biases and impact on the delivery of DSG care (75%) but were less competent in describing treatment options (17%). Respondents reported having witnessed or experienced DSG discrimination (26%) and heterosexism (38%). Respondents (93%) want increased DSG content in the medical curriculum.

Conclusion: To address gaps in DSG health knowledge among clinicians, further DSG teaching in the medical curriculum may inform better future practice and patient care.

Making reasoning visible through process mapping in digitally simulated clinical reasoning assessments

Amanda Edgar — 2024-12-12

Introduction: Making the processes underpinning students’ approaches to given tasks visible is challenging. The aim of this study was to assess the viability of microanalysis of a digitally simulated clinical reasoning assessment.

Methods: Eighty-five second-year optometry students were invited to participate in recall interviews. Through thematic analysis, we constructed a codebook and through microanalysis, process maps were created.

Results: The codebook had four themes and 27 codes. The 53 process maps were synthesised to demonstrate decision making.

Conclusion: Microanalysis could be used in future studies to explore underlying cognitive processes in digitally simulated clinical reasoning assessment in optometry education.

The experiences of a student-led special interest group by occupational therapy students at Curtin University

Melissa Nguyen — 2024-12-12

Introduction: Tertiary education courses for health disciplines prepare students for work in a professional environment. However, there is difficulty in covering all content areas due to a saturated curriculum. As a result, in occupational therapy, a gap exists between current course curricula and the knowledge required for a full scope of practice. This gap can be bridged with student-led special interest groups as a form of continuous professional development to provide extra learning opportunities for students. This study aimed to evaluate the perceived effectiveness of a student-led special interest group for occupational therapy students at Curtin University, Australia.

Methods: The study utilised a concurrent triangulation mixed-method design. Pre- and post-session surveys collected data on students’ experiences from three student-led special interest group sessions. A focus group explored themes regarding implementing the special interest group sessions. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse demographics, and Mann-Whitney U Tests were conducted on pre- and post-session data sets. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to analyse the focus group data.

Results: Students perceived that the student-led special interest group could effectively build their competence and confidence in the specific occupational therapy topics presented. Students perceived the student-led special interest group as an accessible means of continuous professional development and provided suggestions for future implementation.

Conclusion: This study's findings can be used to implement student-led special interest groups in other occupational therapy curricula, provide feedback to guide their implementation, effectively target student participation and encourage further research into the relevance of such groups in other disciplines.