Higher education students’ preparedness for clinical placement
Short description
This research project examines whether peer learning and person-centred virtual patients promote students’ learning in practical education at a clinical training centre. It also explores whether experience of peer learning and person-centred virtual patients increases students’ preparedness before and during clinical placement.
To prepare students at Sahlgrenska Academy for encounters with patients during clinical placement, their programmes include both theoretical and practical teaching on campus. Practical teaching takes place at the Clinical Training Centre and gives students the opportunity to practise different skills and develop familiarity with materials, techniques and challenges involved in performing specific clinical procedures. It also allows students to make mistakes in a safe environment, creating experience and preparedness for future patient encounters.
High demands on students and supervisors
As today’s healthcare has become more advanced, the number of hospital beds has decreased and staff turnover remains high, there are challenges regarding both the number of clinical placement opportunities and the supervision provided in clinical settings. Student supervisors have more extensive patient responsibilities, which leaves less time for supervision. This places high demands on students and on their ability to engage in a learning process during clinical placement. In response to these challenges, those of us working in higher education have asked how we can better prepare our students for clinical placement.
Peer learning and virtual patients
We have implemented peer learning in practical education at the Clinical Training Centre to create coherence in students’ practical training. Peer learning means that students learn together and work according to structured learning activities. The model is currently used during clinical placement and has been shown to have positive effects on learning, collaboration, reflection, feedback and professional socialisation.
We are also developing person-centred virtual patient cases, that is, interactive computer-simulated patients, as a preparatory learning activity before teaching at the Clinical Training Centre. These patient cases can also be used for revision before clinical placement and examinations.
Aim
The aim of this project is to examine whether peer learning and person-centred virtual patients promote students’ learning in practical education at a clinical training centre. The project also explores whether experience of peer learning and person-centred virtual patients increases students’ preparedness before and during clinical placement.
Relevance of the project
If the results show that peer learning and person-centred virtual patient cases promote students’ learning, this may provide an incentive for higher education institutions to implement these models in relevant study programmes. Better prepared students contribute to safer clinical placement. In the longer term, these pedagogical changes are also expected to make it easier for healthcare services to receive students during clinical placement, which may enable them to offer more placement opportunities. This would allow higher education institutions to admit more students and help meet the extensive recruitment needs of healthcare services.