Responsibility with a Safety Net: Exploring the Medical Student to Junior Doctor Transition During COVID-19

Introduction The Foundation Interim Year-one (FiY1) Programme was part of a UK strategy to increase the medical workforce in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the strategy was introduced urgently without evidence. We sought to explore the transition experience of medical student to FiY1 to foundation doctor, with a view to inform future undergraduate education. Methods In this hermeneutic phenomenology study, semi-structured individual interviews were completed with nine foundation doctors who had experience of an FiY1 placement. A template analysis approach was taken, and themes reported. Results Participants reported that FiY1 tended to offer a positive experience of transition as a stepping stone to becoming a foundation doctor. Having a degree of clinical responsibility including the right to prescribe medication with supervision was highly valued, as was feeling a core member of the healthcare team. Participants perceived that FiY1 made them more prepared for the foundation transition, and more resilient to the challenges they faced during their first foundation job. Discussion The FiY1 fostered many opportunities for junior doctors to bridge the transition to foundation doctor. Aspects of the FiY1 programme, such as early licencing and increased team membership, should be considered for final-year students in the future.

Vision impairment and the transition to university education: The role of ICTs

<p>The transition to university is a crucial process in the lives of young people who pursue tertiary education. It can be a stressful experience for all students in general but it is especially challenging for those with disabilities. In recent years the number of students with disabilities enrolled in tertiary institutions has grown steadily. Also, the transition to university has become a topic of interest for policy makers and scholars around the world. However, there is still limited research about the transition to university for students with disabilities and the issues they face when they start their university journey. Additionally, very little research has examined the role of Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) in supporting their transition experience. This research focuses on students with vision impairments, one of the disability groups who have been less studied in academia, and seeks to answer two research questions. First, what are the factors that influence students with vision impairments’experiences of the transition process to university education? Second, how are ICTs used to support this process? The research participants, aged 18 to 24 years old, were all undergraduate students enrolled at Victoria University of Wellington. Data was collected over a year and a half through observations, a researcher diary, individual interviews, social media and focus group meetings. Action research (AR) was the research method used in this qualitative and inductive study. The AR intervention included organising informal face-to-face support group discussions with the participants at different periods of their first trimester at university and setting up a website and a social media group page. The research findings have significant contributions for knowledge and practice. It was found that students with vision impairments are able to develop self-determination skills as they are using and adapting ICTs creatively and innovatively in order to make sense of their transition. This group of students not only use these tools in compensating for their vision impairment but also to interact and collaborate with their peers. This research has also identified five overlapping transition stages: Exploring, Discovering, Coping with, Readjusting and Settling in. Similarly, it includes a description of different transition issues (e.g. academic system, social connections, and financial matters) that have a positive and/or negative impact on the transition experience. Likewise, the findings show that ICTs play a role in the transition to university and that this role varies depending on the transition stage, the transition issues the students with vision impairments deal with and their personal needs. To a large extent, ICTs are embedded in the everyday activities of the students with vision impairments. In addition to using adaptive technologies, they have already incorporated other tools, such as Web 2.0 (e.g. Facebook), and portable devices (e.g. smartphones), and use them for their university activities and transition experience. In this respect, this research suggests rethinking transition in terms of the idea of Transition 2.0, a concept that describes the current escenario of transition to university for students with vision impairments. This study represents a significant contribution from the field of information systems (IS) to research areas such as disability and tertiary education.</p>

Vision impairment and the transition to university education: The role of ICTs

<p>The transition to university is a crucial process in the lives of young people who pursue tertiary education. It can be a stressful experience for all students in general but it is especially challenging for those with disabilities. In recent years the number of students with disabilities enrolled in tertiary institutions has grown steadily. Also, the transition to university has become a topic of interest for policy makers and scholars around the world. However, there is still limited research about the transition to university for students with disabilities and the issues they face when they start their university journey. Additionally, very little research has examined the role of Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) in supporting their transition experience. This research focuses on students with vision impairments, one of the disability groups who have been less studied in academia, and seeks to answer two research questions. First, what are the factors that influence students with vision impairments’experiences of the transition process to university education? Second, how are ICTs used to support this process? The research participants, aged 18 to 24 years old, were all undergraduate students enrolled at Victoria University of Wellington. Data was collected over a year and a half through observations, a researcher diary, individual interviews, social media and focus group meetings. Action research (AR) was the research method used in this qualitative and inductive study. The AR intervention included organising informal face-to-face support group discussions with the participants at different periods of their first trimester at university and setting up a website and a social media group page. The research findings have significant contributions for knowledge and practice. It was found that students with vision impairments are able to develop self-determination skills as they are using and adapting ICTs creatively and innovatively in order to make sense of their transition. This group of students not only use these tools in compensating for their vision impairment but also to interact and collaborate with their peers. This research has also identified five overlapping transition stages: Exploring, Discovering, Coping with, Readjusting and Settling in. Similarly, it includes a description of different transition issues (e.g. academic system, social connections, and financial matters) that have a positive and/or negative impact on the transition experience. Likewise, the findings show that ICTs play a role in the transition to university and that this role varies depending on the transition stage, the transition issues the students with vision impairments deal with and their personal needs. To a large extent, ICTs are embedded in the everyday activities of the students with vision impairments. In addition to using adaptive technologies, they have already incorporated other tools, such as Web 2.0 (e.g. Facebook), and portable devices (e.g. smartphones), and use them for their university activities and transition experience. In this respect, this research suggests rethinking transition in terms of the idea of Transition 2.0, a concept that describes the current escenario of transition to university for students with vision impairments. This study represents a significant contribution from the field of information systems (IS) to research areas such as disability and tertiary education.</p>

Negotiating the Transition: Parents' Experience of their Oldest Child's Transition to School

<p>This study follows the lived experience of parents within six families during their oldest child's transition from early childhood centre to school. The aim was to understand the transition to school from a parent perspective in order that early childhood and school staff can better support families through their child's transition. A successful transition to school is frequently associated with later success in schooling. Research into children's transition has often focused on the child as an individual, with adults acting as informants about children's experiences. Parents have the unique position as the adults who are part of each of the three microsystems of home, early childhood centre and school, and therefore have an essential role in communicating between the microsystems and supporting their child's transition. This qualitative constructionist study interviewed parents one month before and one month after their oldest child started school, followed by a parent focus group. Each of the families in the study had existing theories of development and transitions which they combined with the information they obtained about school to plan and enact strategies to support their child's transition to school. The parents viewed school as a community to which they wanted their child and themselves to belong. They had some expectations of their role as a school parent; this identity was affected by the discourses of parents and teachers which they held and encountered, and by their interactions with people at school. The essence of these parents' experience was of negotiating the transition to school. There were two aspects to this: fitting in to an existing school culture; and attempting to adapt some aspects of the transition experience for their child by discussion with the teacher. Good communication, including feeling their point of view had been heard and also understanding the teacher's point of view, helped these parents to feel effective and valued in their role as school parents.</p>

Negotiating the Transition: Parents' Experience of their Oldest Child's Transition to School

<p>This study follows the lived experience of parents within six families during their oldest child's transition from early childhood centre to school. The aim was to understand the transition to school from a parent perspective in order that early childhood and school staff can better support families through their child's transition. A successful transition to school is frequently associated with later success in schooling. Research into children's transition has often focused on the child as an individual, with adults acting as informants about children's experiences. Parents have the unique position as the adults who are part of each of the three microsystems of home, early childhood centre and school, and therefore have an essential role in communicating between the microsystems and supporting their child's transition. This qualitative constructionist study interviewed parents one month before and one month after their oldest child started school, followed by a parent focus group. Each of the families in the study had existing theories of development and transitions which they combined with the information they obtained about school to plan and enact strategies to support their child's transition to school. The parents viewed school as a community to which they wanted their child and themselves to belong. They had some expectations of their role as a school parent; this identity was affected by the discourses of parents and teachers which they held and encountered, and by their interactions with people at school. The essence of these parents' experience was of negotiating the transition to school. There were two aspects to this: fitting in to an existing school culture; and attempting to adapt some aspects of the transition experience for their child by discussion with the teacher. Good communication, including feeling their point of view had been heard and also understanding the teacher's point of view, helped these parents to feel effective and valued in their role as school parents.</p>

The post-treatment return-to-work transition experience for breast cancer survivors under 50 years of age

The purpose of this study is to explore the experience of cancer survivors less than 50 years of age, as they transition back to work after the end of treatment. Eight survivors took part in this exploratory qualitative study. The results of the iterative content analysis suggest that these survivors want to put their illness-focused life behind them and resume a “normal” existence, of which a return to work is an integral part. The return-to-work transition is also influenced by various personal, family and societal factors that can facilitate or inhibit the experience. Lastly, a number of distinct challenges and a higher level of vulnerability must be taken into consideration by healthcare professionals to be able to better support these survivors transitioning back to work.

Understanding the Undergraduate Student's Transition Into Higher Education: An OT Perspective

Date Presented Accepted for AOTA INSPIRE 2021 but unable to be presented due to online event limitations. This study explored undergraduate students' transition to college from a holistic perspective of the person, environment, occupation, and performance. Results indicated resources to promote organization, time management, friendship and community development, and effective communication for engagement in occupation support a successful transition experience. OTs can aid students during the transition by facilitating communication management between the university and students. Primary Author and Speaker: Megan Nicole Hutson Additional Authors and Speakers: Kendall Horan Contributing Authors: Suzanne Holm