As close as it gets: developing professional identity through the potential of scenario-based learning

Scenario-based learning (SBL) predicated on situated learning theory and the valuing of contextual knowledge, may provide one stratagem for getting students , as would-be professionals, nearer to the realities of their chosen profession via the construction and deconstruction of scenarios. Within SBL processes, students have opportunities to engage with realistic sets of circumstances, experience true-to-life tasks, accept authentic challenges and assume work-oriented roles - all mediated through the language and communication styles found in real-life settings. This chapter focuses on the potential of scenario-based learning to supplement/enrich work placements, internships and field work in the professions - so contributing to shaping and sustaining of professional identity and enhancing employability skills. A survey of the literature suggests four main scenario approaches are used by tertiary educators to foster professional identity: each approach is designed to supplement rather than substitute lived work experience. Errington (2003) has labelled these approaches: skills-based; problem-based; issues-based; and, speculative-based scenarios respectively. Each approach may be used singularly or in combination to facilitate/reveal understandings of workplace identity at specific stages of the would-be professional’s journey. The chapter is in two parts: The first locates attributes of scenario-based learning that lend themselves to the (de)construction of students’ professional identity. The second part discusses specific scenario approaches that may be employed singularly, or in combination, to target particular aspects of professionalism including identity. The chapter concludes by noting the importance of teacher knowledge in determining the likely success of SBL in advancing students’ notions of professional identity

Assessing Readiness for Clinical Practice: Students’ Perspectives of their Veterinary Curriculum

Studies describing the effectiveness of a veterinary curriculum from the student perspective are currently sparse. The overall purpose of this investigation was to describe students’ perceived preparedness for clinical practice. Three focus group meetings with fourth year veterinary students were conducted. Data were open-coded and categorized to identify themes. Four main themes emerged: Challenging communications, Un/appreciating curricular experiences, Documenting demands impede case involvement, and Hungering for timely, effective feedback. Overall students felt comfortable talking to clients about medicine but less comfortable discussing euthanasia or money; they appreciated the split clinical curriculum but questioned the value of the 1st/2nd year courses; they felt that paperwork on clinical rotations negatively impacted patient involvement; expressed the need for well-defined expectations regarding grading/assessment and autonomy on clinical rotations. Despite the reported issues, students expressed satisfaction with the split curriculum and readiness to enter their chosen field of study

Roots Reloaded. Culture, Identity and Social Development in the Digital Age

This edited volume is designed to explore different perspectives of culture, identity and social development using the impact of the digital age as a common thread, aiming at interdisciplinary audiences. Cases of communities and individuals using new technology as a tool to preserve and explore their cultural heritage alongside new media as a source for social orientation ranging from language acquisition to health-related issues will be covered. Therefore, aspects such as Art and Cultural Studies, Media and Communication, Behavioral Science, Psychology, Philosophy and innovative approaches used by creative individuals are included. From the Aboriginal tribes of Australia, to the Maoris of New Zealand, to the mystical teachings of Sufi brotherhoods, the significance of the oral and written traditions and their current relation to online activities shall be discussed in the opening article. The book continues with a closer look at obesity awareness support groups and their impact on social media, Facebook usage in language learning context, smartphone addiction and internet dependency, as well as online media reporting of controversial ethical issues. The Digital progress has already left its dominating mark as the world entered the 21st century. Without a doubt, as technology continues its ascent, society will be faced with new and altering values in an effort to catch-up with this extraordinary Digitization, adapt satisfactorily in order to utilize these strong developments in everyday life

Asia - Pacific Perspectives on Bioethics Education

This collection of papers is the fifth in a series of books from RUSHSAP, UNESCO Bangkok offering Asia and Pacific perspectives on ethics - each focusing on specific themes. The contents come from submitted papers to the UNESCO Bangkok Bioethics conferences held in 2005 and they are assembled thematically. They also include discourse from the conference, as intercultural communication is part of the essence of deliberation on bioethics

Bioethics and the Holocaust

This open access book offers a framework for understanding how the Holocaust has shaped and continues to shape medical ethics, health policy, and questions related to human rights around the world. The field of bioethics continues to face questions of social and medical controversy that have their roots in the lessons of the Holocaust, such as debates over beginning-of-life and medical genetics, end-of-life matters such as medical aid in dying, the development of ethical codes and regulations to guide human subject research, and human rights abuses in vulnerable populations. As the only example of medically sanctioned genocide in history, and one that used medicine and science to fundamentally undermine human dignity and the moral foundation of society, the Holocaust provides an invaluable framework for exploring current issues in bioethics and society today. This book, therefore, is of great value to all current and future ethicists, medical practitioners and policymakers – as well as laypeople

Autonomy and Death

In this article, Professor Clark explores the contours of the current debate over physician-assisted death. She begins by focusing on the legal issues raised by statutory attempts to either legalize or criminalize physician-assisted death, with particular emphasis on the constitutional questions that are currently before the United States Supreme Court. She then examines physician-assisted death from both medical and societal perspectives. Professor Clark uses a thought experiment in which assisted death is facilitated by persons other than physicians, and in doing so, questions whether physicians are the proper persons in whom to wrest power over assisted death. She points out the irony in a process that would set up physicians as protectors of individual autonomy, and ultimately concludes that by deferring to the medical profession in this process, we risk losing the very autonomy that assisted death is designed to effectuate

Mental health care and resistance to fascism

Mental health nurses have a critical stake in resisting the right-wing ideology of British fascism. Particularly concerning is the contemporary effort of the British National Party (BNP) to gain credibility and electoral support by the strategic re-packaging of a racist and divisive political manifesto. Evidence that some public sector workers are affiliated with the BNP has relevance for nursing at a series of levels, not least the incompatibility of party membership with a requirement of the Professional Code to avoid discrimination. Progressive advances, though, need to account for deep rooted institutionalized racism in the discourse and practice of healthcare services. The anomalous treatment of black people within mental health services, alongside racial abuse experienced by ethnic minority staff, is discussed in relation to the concept of race as a powerful social category and construction. The murder of the mentally ill and learning disabled in Nazi Germany, as an adjunct of racial genocide, is presented as an extreme example where professional ethics was undermined by dominant political ideology. Finally, the complicity of medical and nursing staff in the state sanctioned, bureaucratic, killing that characterized the Holocaust is revisited in the context of ethical repositioning for contemporary practice and praxis

Autonomy and Death

In this article, Professor Clark explores the contours of the current debate over physician-assisted death. She begins by focusing on the legal issues raised by statutory attempts to either legalize or criminalize physician-assisted death, with particular emphasis on the constitutional questions that are currently before the United States Supreme Court. She then examines physician-assisted death from both medical and societal perspectives. Professor Clark uses a thought experiment in which assisted death is facilitated by persons other than physicians, and in doing so, questions whether physicians are the proper persons in whom to wrest power over assisted death. She points out the irony in a process that would set up physicians as protectors of individual autonomy, and ultimately concludes that by deferring to the medical profession in this process, we risk losing the very autonomy that assisted death is designed to effectuate

Exploring the Integration of Disability Awareness into Tertiary Teaching and Learning Activities

A desire to have every student attending our University be aware of, and reflect on, disability in their studies and future careers, initiated our project to explore how to enhance disability awareness within all our University’s papers. In this project we systematically reviewed pertinent literature and ran an action research workshop for staff. Strategies to enhance disability awareness identified in the literature and workshop were presented and verified at an interactive conference presentation. Embedding disability awareness into curricula is challenging; staff considered themselves powerless to bring about change in their departments, but thought that one way to do so would be by modelling inclusive behaviour and by introducing subtle inclusive practices into papers taught. The identified strategies may be of use to others contemplating similar curricular modifications