Abstract
BackgroundCurrently in the Australian higher education sector higher productivity from allied health clinical education placements is a contested issue. This paper will report results of a study that investigated output changes associated with occupational therapy and nutrition/dietetics clinical education placements in Queensland, Australia. Supervisors’ and students’ time use during placements and how this changes for supervisors compared to when students are not present in the workplace is also presented.Methodology/Principal FindingsA cohort design was used with students from four Queensland universities, and their supervisors employed by Queensland Health. There was an increasing trend in the number of occasions of service delivered when the students were present, and a statistically significant increase in the daily mean length of occasions of service delivered during the placement compared to pre-placement levels.Conclusions/SignificanceA novel method for estimating productivity and time use changes during clinical education programs for allied health disciplines has been applied. During clinical education placements there was a net increase in outputs, suggesting supervisors engage in longer consultations with patients for the purpose of training students, while maintaining patient numbers. Other activities were reduced. This paper is the first time these data have been shown in Australia and form a sound basis for future assessments of the economic impact of student placements for allied health disciplines.
Highlights
In the Australian higher education sector, a contested issue is whether the activity of supervising allied health students in clinical education placements is adequately compensated by the benefits
The aim of this paper was to describe productivity and time use changes from occupational therapy and nutrition/dietetics clinical education placements of students in Queensland, Australia as they are representative of the national variations seen across allied health practice
We investigated time use and productivity changes during occupational therapy and dietetic placements
Summary
In the Australian higher education sector, a contested issue is whether the activity of supervising allied health students in clinical education placements is adequately compensated by the benefits. Changes in health/human services and higher education sectors that have limited allied health placement availability include reduced funding, shorter length of hospital stay, casualisation of the workforce and workforce shortages, lack of financial support to organisations and supervisors, and new models of care [2,3]. Accentuating this problem is the proliferation of Australian allied health programs as well as increased quotas within existing programs. Supervisors’ and students’ time use during placements and how this changes for supervisors compared to when students are not present in the workplace is presented
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