Abstract
BackgroundDuring clinical placements, clinical educators facilitate student learning. Previous research has defined the skills, attitudes and practices that pertain to an ideal clinical educator. However, less attention has been paid to the role of student readiness in terms of foundational knowledge and attitudes at the commencement of practice education. Therefore, the aim of this study was to ascertain clinical educators’ views on the characteristics that they perceive demonstrate that a student is well prepared for clinical learning.MethodsA two round on-line Delphi study was conducted. The first questionnaire was emailed to a total of 636 expert clinical educators from the disciplines of occupational therapy, physiotherapy and speech pathology. Expert clinical educators were asked to describe the key characteristics that indicate a student is prepared for a clinical placement and ready to learn. Open-ended responses received from the first round were subject to a thematic analysis and resulted in six themes with 62 characteristics. In the second round, participants were asked to rate each characteristic on a 7 point Likert Scale.ResultsA total of 258 (40.56%) responded to the first round of the Delphi survey while 161 clinical educators completed the second (62.40% retention rate). Consensus was reached on 57 characteristics (six themes) using a cut off of greater than 70% positive respondents and an interquartile deviation IQD of equal or less than 1.ConclusionsThis study identified 57 characteristics (six themes) perceived by clinical educators as indicators of a student who is prepared and ready for clinical learning. A list of characteristics relating to behaviours has been compiled and could be provided to students to aid their preparation for clinical learning and to universities to incorporate within curricula. In addition, the list provides a platform for discussions by professional bodies about the role of placement education.
Highlights
During clinical placements, clinical educators facilitate student learning
An observational approach using the Delphi technique that involved sequential on-line questionnaires interspersed by controlled feedback was used to gain consensus of opinion among clinical educators experienced with supervising occupational therapy, physiotherapy and speech pathology students [20]
The first questionnaire was emailed to a total of 636 clinical educators in occupational therapy, physiotherapy and speech pathology
Summary
Clinical educators facilitate student learning. Previous research has defined the skills, attitudes and practices that pertain to an ideal clinical educator. While various models of supervision are used within the allied health professions [6,7], clinical educators are generally responsible for facilitating the acquisition of profession-specific skills while students are out in the field [8] During this time, the relationship between the clinical educator and student is considered fundamental to the success of the learning opportunity [3,9,10]. The relationship between the clinical educator and student is considered fundamental to the success of the learning opportunity [3,9,10] To this end, a number of studies have attempted to define various skills, attitudes and practices that pertain to an ideal clinical educator and in doing so, have defined many characteristics to which clinical educators might aspire [9,11,12,13,14]. This work generally implies that the presence of an educator with such characteristics is a major factor in ensuring a valuable clinical learning experience [9]
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