Professional Experience Placement

The next few blogs will revisit a series of articles about ‘teaching on the run‘ published over a period of two years in the MJA by Fiona Lake and colleagues. this blog is from the PEP Blog archive.

The first article originally written for doctors teaching their colleagues.  However, the information provided is generally applicable to health professionals who supervise students in the workplace.

Lake (2004) raises the issues of lack of time, knowledge, training, reward and teaching competence being problems that that impact on the quality of teaching and learning during clinical placements. She states that research confirms that the performance of students is directly related to the prowess of their teachers. Over the last two years the Federal Government through HWA initiatives has invested in funding that assists with enabling high quality clinical placements for students. These projects address some of the supervision solutions proposed by Lake (2004).

The author discusses the importance of the learner-teacher relationship. She discusses the goals of an effective clinical supervisor that include:

•  Clinical role modelling by  being knowledgeable, competent, caring and professional.
• Supervising by giving direction in patient or client care when required and providing feedback.
• Provision of support through mentoring and showing an interest. Being a dynamic teacher by planning, motivating, identifying learning needs and opportunities.

Lastly Lake (2004) discusses the importance of the framework of the learning cycle and the process of enabling reflection on practice. This cycle is similar to the clinical reasoning cycle used by this University to facilitate critical thinking and analysis. The tenet of this paper for clinical supervision has not changed.  The role and function of clinical supervisors are to guide and support the next generation of health professionals. Effective clinical teachers require the attributes outlined here. Next week discusses building a a good educational environment in the clinical setting.

If you have any comments about teaching on the run, especially teaching during work integrated learning or professional experience you are welcome to post them here or join me on Twitter @PEPCommunity.