A critical review of outcomes of peer group mentoring and elements influencing its success and application to student placement supervisors.

Within the mentoring literature, peer group mentoring is emerging as an alternative approach to the traditional one-on-one experienced mentor-novice mentee model. The aim of this study was to examine the evidence base for peer group mentoring with a view to developing a sustainable peer group mentoring framework specifically for student placement supervisors within both the health and community sectors. A literature review was undertaken to determine models of peer group mentoring, elements contributing to their success and reported outcomes. The search strategy was intentionally broad to include papers outside of the health and community sectors. Eleven papers were located that met the inclusion criteria. Models of peer group mentoring broadly fell under three categories: peer led; experienced facilitator present with an active role; and experienced facilitator present in a supportive role. The success of peer group mentoring was influenced by structural elements of the programme, a focus on relationship building, and the learning environment. Outcomes included personal benefits to participants, educational gains, relationship development and productivity improvements. Based on this review, peer group mentoring appears to offer a novel approach to effectively and efficiently supporting and developing our student placement supervisors, ensuring quality learning experiences for our students

Students’ Experiences and Perceptions of Interprofessional Supervision on Placement

This study aimed to explore perceptions and experiences of Occupational Therapy and Speech-Language Therapy students regarding interprofessional supervision during an interprofessional rural schools placement. Eight participants were recruited to participate in three semi-structured, one-to-one interviews conducted by phone before, during, and after the placement. The interviews were transcribed verbatim for subsequent thematic analysis. Our findings indicate that whilst participants valued the interprofessional peer supervision afforded by interprofessional placements, they entered interprofessional placements with misguided assumptions and expectations regarding interprofessional supervision from supervisors. This appeared to contribute to their largely negative perceptions of interprofessional supervision resulting in the devaluing of interprofessional supervision now and possibly in the future. This exploratory study presents a unique insight into the limitations of interprofessional supervision, and the critical need for interprofessional supervisor training and student preparation before placements. Follow-up research is required to expand on these findings so the limitations are addressed. This may enable interprofessional supervisors to provide better learning experiences, increasing students’ acceptance and appreciation of interprofessional supervision

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

Influences and outcomes: A systematised review of reflective teaching strategies in student healthcare placements

The development of reflection in tertiary students benefits from facilitation. Educators commonly facilitate the development of affective, cognitive, and meta-cognitive skills associated with reflection. Reflective teaching strategies, that is, guiding comments or questions used within an activity to stimulate cognitive processes, are strategies used by educators to facilitate reflection. This systematised review focuses on the approaches used to measure influences and outcomes of the teaching of reflection in order to enhance educators’ understanding of recent evidence for use in the placement setting. The review explores what outcome measures are used in current research, and how the evidence incorporates contextual factors such as time, safety, mentorship, supervision, and emotional and intellectual support to develop reflection in students. Systematised searching of CINAHL®, ProQuest, ERIC, OvidSP, Scopus®, and Web of Science™ databases for the period 2005 to 2015 identified 26 studies, from a pool of 6968 that met the inclusion criteria. Results indicate that a range of reflective teaching strategies are being used by allied and oral health, nursing, and the medical professions that assist movement towards critical reflection. No direct connection between this movement and the presence of contextual factors was established. Review outcomes are limited by the variable quality of the included studies and the lack of high quality tools for measurement of teaching effect on the development of reflection. We recommend that future studies into the use of reflective teaching strategies continue to incorporate contextual factors in combination with valid and reliable measurement practices in the workplace

Facilitating the development and maintenance of reflection in speech pathology students

Speech pathology students can develop and demonstrate critical reflection over time, although their engagement in reflection as a lifelong learning strategy remains sub-optimal. Educators play an integral role in the facilitation of students’ development and sustained engagement in reflective activities. This is a challenging task due to the nature of the development of reflection, factors that influence student facilitation and methods to measure reflection with tertiary healthcare students. This paper reports on a mixed methods single case study with embedded units, which was used to determine the development, maintenance and facilitation of reflection with six speech pathology students. The study spanned 10 weeks and two professional placements, during which students received a combination of face-to-face and email facilitation to support their reflection development. Quantitative results identified three novel trajectories: 1) steady growth from introspection to reflection and critical reflection; 2) no clear change in depth of reflection over time; and 3) gradual decline in depth of reflection. Qualitative results situated these trajectories with factors that influenced students’ experiences, including the internalisation of reflection, understanding the value of reflection, the influence of time and the mode of facilitation. Outcomes from this study may be used by educators to support the facilitation, development and maintenance of reflection in speech pathology students

Influences and outcomes: A systematised review of reflective teaching strategies in student healthcare placements

The development of reflection in tertiary students benefits from facilitation. Educators commonly facilitate the development of affective, cognitive, and meta-cognitive skills associated with reflection. Reflective teaching strategies, that is, guiding comments or questions used within an activity to stimulate cognitive processes, are strategies used by educators to facilitate reflection. This systematised review focuses on the approaches used to measure influences and outcomes of the teaching of reflection in order to enhance educators’ understanding of recent evidence for use in the placement setting. The review explores what outcome measures are used in current research, and how the evidence incorporates contextual factors such as time, safety, mentorship, supervision, and emotional and intellectual support to develop reflection in students. Systematised searching of CINAHL®, ProQuest, ERIC, OvidSP, Scopus®, and Web of Science™ databases for the period 2005 to 2015 identified 26 studies, from a pool of 6968 that met the inclusion criteria. Results indicate that a range of reflective teaching strategies are being used by allied and oral health, nursing, and the medical professions that assist movement towards critical reflection. No direct connection between this movement and the presence of contextual factors was established. Review outcomes are limited by the variable quality of the included studies and the lack of high quality tools for measurement of teaching effect on the development of reflection. We recommend that future studies into the use of reflective teaching strategies continue to incorporate contextual factors in combination with valid and reliable measurement practices in the workplace

Influencing Student Attitudes Through a Student-Directed Interprofessional Learning Activity: A pilot study

A student-directed approach to interprofessional learning (IPL) can overcome difficulties such as incompatible timetables, limited staff resources and crowded disciplinary curricula. However, it is unclear whether such approaches to IPL can produce quality student learning, including attitudinal change. This study aimed to investigate the influence of a student-directed experiential IPL activity on attitudes towards interprofessional learning and working. A single group, pre/post-test design was used. Participants from medicine, nursing, exercise physiology, diagnostic radiography, occupational therapy, pharmacy, physiotherapy, and speech pathology disciplines completed three validated questionnaires (Revised Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale (RIPLS); Modified Interdisciplinary Education Perception Scale (IEPS); and Interprofessional Relationships Scale (IRS)) before and after a five week student-directed interprofessional learning activity. Students were also surveyed on frequency of social media usage and mode of communication with team members during the IPL activity. Seventy-seven students participated in the IPL activity. There were significant increases in the modified IEPS and IRS scores before and after the IPL activity but not the RIPLS. Social media and face-to-face meetings were used equally by students to communicate with team members during the IPL activity. The overall results support the effectiveness of a student-directed experiential IPL activity to significantly influence attitudes towards interprofessional learning and working. This approach may offer a viable means of overcoming the curricular challenges faced when implementing IPL on a large scale. The role of social media in facilitating collaborative learning warrants further exploration

Using complexity theory to develop a student-directed interprofessional learning activity for 1220 healthcare students

Background: More and better interprofessional practice is predicated to be necessary to deliver good care to the patients of the future. However, universities struggle to create authentic learning activities that enable students to experience the dynamic interprofessional interactions common in healthcare and that can accommodate large interprofessional student cohorts. We investigated a large-scale mandatory interprofessional learning (IPL) activity for health professional students designed to promote social learning. Methods: A mixed methods research approach determined feasibility, acceptability and the extent to which student IPL outcomes were met. We developed an IPL activity founded in complexity theory to prepare students for future practice by engaging them in a self-directed (self-organised) learning activity with a diverse team, whose assessable products would be emergent creations. Complicated but authentic clinical cases (n = 12) were developed to challenge student teams (n = 5 or 6). Assessment consisted of a written management plan (academically marked) and a five-minute video (peer marked) designed to assess creative collaboration as well as provide evidence of integrated collective knowledge; the cohesive patient-centred management plan. Results: All students (including the disciplines of diagnostic radiology, exercise physiology, medicine, nursing, occupational therapy, pharmacy, physiotherapy and speech pathology), completed all tasks successfully. Of the 26 % of students who completed the evaluation survey, 70 % agreed or strongly agreed that the IPL activity was worthwhile, and 87 % agreed or strongly agreed that their case study was relevant. Thematic analysis found overarching themes of engagement and collaboration-in-action suggesting that the IPL activity enabled students to achieve the intended learning objectives. Students recognised the contribution of others and described negotiation, collaboration and creation of new collective knowledge after working together on the complicated patient case studies. The novel video assessment was challenging to many students and contextual issues limited engagement for some disciplines. Conclusions: We demonstrated the feasibility and acceptability of a large scale IPL activity where design of cases, format and assessment tasks was founded in complexity theory. This theoretically based design enabled students to achieve complex IPL outcomes relevant to future practice. Future research could establish the psychometric properties of assessments of student performance in large-scale IPL events

Strategies for Ethics Education with Health Profession Students Before, During, and After Placements

Health professionals must practice ethically in order to ensure compassionate and effective client care; function as good interdisciplinary team members; and protect themselves from litigation, and conduct and ethics complaints. Ethics education is a routine inclusion in health profession degrees, but may only be taught in the classroom, divorced from practice. This article argues that students need ethics education before, during, and after practice placements. We suggest that many powerful opportunities for teaching ethics on and after placements are missed or under-utilised. We have reviewed the scant evidence, and the literature more broadly, to identify strategies for teaching ethics before, during, and after placements; and have added strategies drawn from our own experiences as clinical educators. We highlight where interdisciplinary perspectives can be added to ethics education. We conclude that more research is needed into approaches and strategies for teaching ethics in different contexts