Loss of income and levels of scholarship support for students on rural clinical placements: A survey of medical, nursing and allied health students

2009 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 134-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deborah Schofield ◽  
Sheila Keane ◽  
Susan Fletcher ◽  
Rupendra Shrestha ◽  
Richard Percival
2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (19-20) ◽  
pp. 3099-3110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Taylor ◽  
Liz Angel ◽  
Lucy Nyanga ◽  
Cathy Dickson

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Moran ◽  
Susan Nancarrow ◽  
Catherine Cosgrave ◽  
Anna Griffith ◽  
Rhiannon Memery

Abstract Background Allied health services are core to the improvement in health outcomes for remote and rural residents. Substantial infrastructure has been put into place to facilitate rural work-ready allied health practitioners, yet it is difficult to understand or measure how successful this is and how it is facilitated. Methods A scoping review and thematic synthesis of the literature using program logic was undertaken to identify and describe the contexts, mechanisms and outcomes of successful models of rural clinical placements for allied health students. This involved all empirical literature examining models of regional, rural and remote clinical placements for allied health students between 1995 and 2019. Results A total of 292 articles were identified; however, after removal of duplicates and article screening, 18 were included in the final synthesis. Australian papers dominated the evidence base (n = 11). Drivers for rural allied health clinical placements include: attracting allied health students to the rural workforce; increasing the number of allied health clinical placements available; exposing students to and providing skills in rural and interprofessional practice; and improving access to allied health services in rural areas. Depending on the placement model, a number of key mechanisms were identified that facilitated realisation of these drivers and therefore the success of the model. These included: support for students; engagement, consultation and partnership with key stakeholders and organisations; and regional coordination, infrastructure and support. Placement success was measured in terms of student, rural, community and/or program outcomes. Although the strength and quality of the evidence was found to be low, there is a trend for placements to be more successful when the driver for the placement is specifically reflected in the structure of the placement model and outcomes measured. This was seen most effectively in placement models that were driven by the need to meet rural community needs and upskill students in interprofessional rural practice. Conclusion This study identifies the factors that can be manipulated to ensure more successful models of allied health rural clinical placements and provides an evidence based framework for improved planning and evaluation.


Author(s):  
Linda Furness ◽  
Anna Tynan ◽  
Jenny Ostini

Introduction: Clinical placements are critical for student learning and transition to practice. They help students integrate their knowledge and skills and support their development of professional identity—so they come to “think, act and feel” like a member of their profession. Students have reported that placements play a role in development of professional identity. Documents are frequently the first contact students have with the placement setting. However, there are few studies examining the impact of clinical placement documents on the development of allied health students’ professional identity. This study examines what clinical placement documents contribute to the development of professional identity through facilitating thinking, feeling and acting like a health professional.Methods: Thematic analysis of clinical education placement documents was conducted using a deductive framework based on review of literature considering how students can be supported to think, act and feel like a health professional.Results: Thirteen placement orientation documents were reviewed. Reference to factors that support “thinking” described learning opportunities to enable students to develop knowledge for practice. Reference to factors that support “acting” described graded learning that enables student contribution to service delivery and recognition as a health professional, and reference to factors that support “feeling” described workplace culture and practices supporting connectedness.Conclusions: This study identified that placement documents can contribute to allied health students thinking, acting and feeling like a health professional while on clinical placement. Academic staff and organisations reviewing clinical placement documents may wish to consider the implications identified in this study, which demonstrate how documents can include or exclude students in the workplace.


Author(s):  
Maxine O'Brien ◽  
Kelli Troy ◽  
Jayne Kirkpatrick

Purpose: Clinical placements associated with university degrees for the allied health professions aim to support the preparation of students for post graduate employment through the practical application of theoretical constructs. However, employers recognise that a range of generic skills and attributes outside of technical and academic achievement impact of work readiness. Allied health clinical educators within Darling Downs Health (DDH) sought to identify these generic characteristics, and their relative importance, with a view to further supporting the work readiness of students completing placements in the district. Method: The study utilised the knowledge and experience of allied health clinical educators, experienced clinical supervisors, and allied health directors, to explore the characteristics thought to be related to work readiness. Participants completed a brief demographic questionnaire before participating in one of three groups which employed the Nominal Group Technique to seek answers to the research question “What do you believe are the most important personal characteristics signalling work readiness in allied health students?” Results: Data were analysed by group and then overall, resulting in a complete list of 103 characteristics raised, 37 of which were judged as among the “most important” by study participants. Analysis revealed six characteristics which were identified and voted as among the most important by each independent group. Personal insight and self-awareness rose to the top of the list of most important characteristics, with 16 of the 18 participants voting for this characteristic, and a mean importance rating of 9.3 of a possible 10. Resilience was second on this list, followed by communication skills, organisational skills, lifelong learning, and professionalism. A further nine characteristics were selected by two of the three groups, while an additional 22 characteristics were raised and voted as among the most important by members of a single group. Conclusions and Recommendations: We believe that these results may be of interest to allied health students, allied health staff, universities and training organisations, recruiters, and managers. It is our hope that identification of these characteristics may also lead to the development of targeted education and support programs within DDH to assist students’ growth in these areas.


2015 ◽  
Vol 39 (5) ◽  
pp. 577 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liza-Jane McBride ◽  
Cate Fitzgerald ◽  
Laura Morrison ◽  
Julie Hulcombe

Objectives The Clinical Education Workload Management Initiative (the Initiative) is a unique, multiprofessional, jurisdiction-wide approach and reform process enshrined within an industrial agreement. The Initiative enabled significant investment in allied health clinical education across Queensland public health services to address the workload associated with providing pre-entry clinical placements. This paper describes the outcomes of a quality review activity to measure the impact of the Initiative on placement capacity and workload management for five allied health professions. Data related to several key factors impacting on placement supply and demand in addition to qualitative perspectives from workforce surveys are reported. Methods Data from a range of quality review actions including collated placement activity data, and workforce and student cohort statistics were appraised. Stakeholder perspectives reported in surveys were analysed for emerging themes. Results Placement offers showed an upward trend in the context of increased university program and student numbers and in contrast with a downward trend in full-time equivalent (FTE) staff numbers. Initiative-funded positions were identified as a major factor in individual practitioners taking more students, and staff and managers valued the Initiative-funded positions’ support before and during placements, in the coordination of placements, and in building partnerships with universities. Conclusions The Initiative enabled a co-ordinated response to meeting placement demand and enhanced collaborations between the health and education sectors. Sustaining pre-entry student placement provision remains a challenge for the future. What is known about the topic? The literature clearly identifies factors impacting on increasing demand for clinical placements and a range of strategies to increase clinical placement capacity. However, reported initiatives have mostly been ad hoc or reactive responses, often isolated within services or professions. What does this paper add? This paper describes implementation of a clinical placement capacity building initiative within public sector health services developed from a unique opportunity to provide funding through an industrial agreement. The Initiative aimed to address the workload associated with clinical education of pre-entry students and new graduates. What are the implications for practitioners? This paper demonstrates that systematic commitment to, and funding of, clinical education across a jurisdiction’s public health services is able to increase placement capacity, even when staffing numbers are in decline.


2014 ◽  
Vol 28 (S1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jared Dowdy ◽  
Charys Martin ◽  
Carol Nichols ◽  
Anna Edmondson

Author(s):  
Amanda Carroll-Barefield

As more emphasis is placed on offering education to the distance student and monies are spent to provide these services, institutions must ensure they reap the rewards of the investment. One avenue to ensure success in distance education is the implementation of strong student support services. This is a task that will take the teamwork of educators, administrators, instructional technologists/designers, and support personnel. For institutions transitioning to a distance format, measures must be taken to ensure that the learner, no matter what the method of delivery, has access to equivalent student support services. One approach to measuring this aspect is the determination of student satisfaction with the support services offered to distance students. A study was conducted at a public health sciences research university in the Southeast to determine whether the administrative student support services (library and technical) offered at the institution met the educational needs of allied health students enrolled in a distance education program. Results from student questionnaires were analyzed to determine the satisfaction level of distance students with administrative (library and technical) student support services. Overall responses showed that allied health students enrolled in a distance education program were satisfied with the existing student support services (library and technical) offered by the institution. Narrative responses from the participants reinforced a common theme that although the students were satisfied with the services, more emphasis needed to be placed on library and technical support services that are available to distance education students during the program orientation.


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