Internationalisation of curriculum at home: Imperatives, opportunities and challenges for allied health education

Preparation of globally competent health graduates who have a good understanding of local and international healthcare is an important goal for allied health education. Internationalisation of curriculum and Internationalisation at home strategies are needed to prepare students to work in culturally diverse contexts. A critical review of issues, challenges and future needs in internationalisation of allied health curricula is the focus of this paper. Current approaches to internationalisation from a range of disciplines are considered and their applicability to allied health courses is discussed. Important challenges for progress on internationalisation goals and integration of internationalisation experiences into allied health curricula are identified. Suggestions for progressing internationalisation of allied health curricula through formal and informal curriculum are presented. Future research needs that are key to progressing internationalisation goals in allied health education are considered. Important questions that will prompt academic, clinical educators and students to consider how well internationalisation goals are being addressed in allied health education are also raised

Accreditation requirements in allied health education: Strengths, weaknesses and missed opportunities

This paper reviews the accreditation requirements for six Allied Health (AH) degree programs in Australia to understand the range of accreditation requirements and approaches, with a particular focus on requirements around clinical education in AH education. Strengths of current approaches and further requirements are identified. Of particular interest are those areas where accreditation could better support educational goals and processes, including the preparation of work ready graduates and the encouragement of the use of currently underutilized opportunities for preparing the AH workforce for future healthcare needs. The findings suggest that the accreditation criteria perform well for the development of students’ conceptual and procedural knowledge. However, there are several opportunities for improvement where accreditation could better support preparation of graduates to meet current and future needs of healthcare. These opportunities include increased emphasis on biopsychosocial perspectives of health as healthcare models shift from hospital to community-based settings, increased emphasis on development of interprofessional skills, encouragement of diverse supervision models, explicitness about intentions and interpretations of accreditation requirements, and increased employer representation on accreditation panels. Constraints on universities’ uses of new educational approaches imposed by or arising from non-explicit accreditation requirements are outlined. Arising from this analysis, a summary of considerations for AH accreditation bodies is provided

Capacity building for clinical supervision in allied health in Vietnam

Since Vietnam's first speech therapists (ST) graduated in September 2012 they have been involved in a capacity building program to become skilled clinical supervisors (CS) by (1) acting as co-supervisors of current ST students with visiting Australian supervisors and receiving on-the-job role mentoring from them; (2) participating in a Supervisor Development Program (SDP). The SDP consisted of six 3 hour sessions covering planning for placements, teaching and feedback techniques, peer learning, reflection, evaluation of placement outcomes, development of self-as-clinical supervisor. Translation of program notes and in-class interpreting between English and Vietnamese was provided by experienced translators/interpreters. The program was highly interactive and the presenters role-modelled techniques throughout. With the participants' Informed Consent, their reactions to the content and techniques, and suggestions for modification were digitally recorded during the sessions, and in dedicated focus group times. Transcripts were analysed to identify participants' perceptions of content and techniques that are and are not culturally and pedagogically appropriate for teaching allied health students in Vietnam. Their suggestions for modification of the program will be incorporated in a revised program and delivered with their involvement for future allied health graduates. Lessons from this two-stage approach to supervisor development are applicable to the Australian context

Informal Learning Opportunities Matter: The Interprofessional Learning Experiences of Undergraduate Speech Pathology Students

Despite increasing recognition of the importance of interprofessional learning (IPL) for interprofessional practice, it is unclear how and where speech pathology students are developing their interprofessional competencies within the university curriculum. This study aimed to clarify how interprofessional competencies develop in students by using a qualitative approach to explore speech pathology students’ perceptions of their university interprofessional learning experiences. Nine individual semi-structured interviews were conducted. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. Two major themes emerged: (i) occurrence of informal interprofessional learning (including informal IPL opportunities/context and its contribution to interprofessional learning experiences), and (ii) factors influencing interprofessional learning (role of placement, clinical educators and student’s motivation to engage in IPL activities). Participants reported valuing their interprofessional learning experiences, which were mainly informal interactions with professionals that occurred during clinical placements. The findings suggest that informal interprofessional learning experiences are a valuable source of interprofessional learning which can assist students to develop competencies for interprofessional practice. Recommendations for universities to more effectively support students’ interprofessional learning are provided

A Pilot Investigation of Occupational Therapy Students’ Perceptions of Their Impact on Services to Older Adults

Practice education is an integral component of occupational therapy curricula to ensure graduates are competent in delivering effective and efficient services to their clients. This study aimed to understand occupational therapy students’ perceptions of the impact of student-delivered services for clients aged over 65 years. A case study design directed at in-depth exploration of undergraduate occupational therapy student experiences of working with older adults was employed. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight final-year students at an Australian university during 2015. Data were analysed using thematic analysis. The key finding was that students generally believed they contributed positively to aspects of client-services during placements. Students reported on the development of competence during placement and the positive impact they had on services for older adults. The study highlighted the unique intergenerational relationship students had with older adults during their therapeutic encounters. However, very few participants recognised the importance and complexity of providing holistic services to older adults. Conclusion: There is potential to improve services for older adults by offering a greater number of placement opportunities involving students in direct client services. If occupational therapy students are better prepared, supported, and informed of the complexities associated with working with older adults, direct client-services rendered by students could potentially be enhanced. This will require ongoing collaboration between occupational therapy workforce, placement sites, and universities to align occupational therapy curricula with healthcare needs

Impact of Disability Placements on Allied Health Students: Placement Educators’ Perspectives

Research on the relevance of placements to the development of allied health student skills to work with people with disability, is an underexplored area. This knowledge is important for several reasons: to prepare students for disability placements, develop their work readiness skills to work with people with disability upon graduation, inform placement curriculum development, and ensure placement educators are supported to provide effective and efficient supervision of students on disability placements. The study discussed in this article, explores placement educators’ perceptions of powerful learning experiences during disability placements that shape students’ attitudes and perceptions of working with people with disability. Allied health placement educators from three Australian disability organisations, were invited to attend focus groups on this topic. Two focus groups, with a total of seven participants, were conducted in February and May 2016. The allied health disciplines represented in the focus groups were Speech Pathology, Occupational Therapy, and Physiotherapy. Thematic analysis technique was used to analyse focus group data. Findings related to the following four key topic areas, are discussed in this  article: a. Reasons for placement educators entering and staying in the disability sector; b. Placement educator perceptions of changes in student attitudes and skills post disability placements and how their experiences shape their approaches to student placement education; c. Recommendations for universities to better prepare students to work with people with disability; and d. Preparation of students for job-seeking in the disability sector

Developing Measures of Placement Quality in Allied Health, Dentistry, Medicine, and Pharmacy

As placement numbers expand, there is a concern that the quality of student experience and learning may diminish. Furthermore, there is a paucity of evidence for evaluation and quality improvement in clinical health placements and there have been few studies undertaken to assess quality. Valid and reliable measures of placement quality are needed to provide an evidence-base to guide decisions about the most efficient and effective placement models in health. A two-phase mixed methods design, using a modified Delphi process, focus groups, and surveys, developed and tested items to measure placement quality. Thematic analysis, descriptive statistics, and exploratory factor analysis (EFA) were used to analyse the data. Twenty-three participants took part in the Phase 1 stakeholder focus groups, and 150 useable surveys were returned by 161 who took part in Phase 2 to test validity and reliability of the student survey items. Results show broad agreement on the features of a quality clinical placement across allied health dentistry, medicine, and pharmacy professions. The student survey was found to be a valid and reliable measure of placement quality, with the EFA showing one component accounting for 58.5% of the variance in the survey data. The findings offer a framework and approach that others can adopt to measure placement quality in their setting. The measures may be adaptable to contexts outside health

Using SIMCTS framework to model determinants of customer satisfaction: a case in an ISP

In this paper we describe a call center simulation case study that uses real data obtained from an Internet Service Provider (ISP). The case study is conducted using SIMCTS (Simulation Modelling and Analysis of Customer Satisfaction Patterns for Telecommunication Service Providers) framework [25]. The applicability of this framework to model ISP business scenario is discussed in detail. The simulation case study reveal that the dimensions of service quality have huge impact on customer satisfaction and also provide valuable insight in to gap analysis of customer perception and expectation. Various key satisfaction variables in relation to call center are modelled using SIMAN simulation language and ARENA simulation software. The simulation case study investigates service quality dimension, technical (or) functional service quality and their role in evaluation of overall satisfaction judgment. The simulation model collects transient performance measures which can be used to make competitive marketing decisions

Is the graduate attributes approach sufficient to develop work ready graduates? Journal of Teaching and Learning for Graduate Employability

Abstract Many universities have graduate attributes, sometimes referred to as generic skills, soft skills or work ready skills. This paper reports a study of the professional work experiences of recent Australian Information Technology (IT) graduates who identified that communication, time management, teamwork, working with people, working across cultures, project management and business skills were some of the major professional skills required for their work. A discussion of the study and its findings raises questions about the adequacy of the graduate attributes approach in the development of professional skills such as the ability of to work across cultures and on multiple projects which are major requirements of graduates in many IT (and other) workplaces. The study reveals the IT graduates' perspectives on the challenges they faced at work, the typical professional skills requirements of their practice and how they acquired or developed them, the elements of their university study which had relevance to the required workplace professional skills and how well their studies prepared them to meet the professional needs of their practice