Presentation 6 FR2

Title

A curriculum design with outcomes reaching beyond the classroom

Author(s)

Phoebe Griffin, School of Medicine
Pieter Van Dam, School of Medicine

Subtheme

Excellent teaching happens by design

Presentation Type

Presentation

Room

Flexible Learning Space 2

Time

13.40-13.55

Abstract

The Clinical Redesign course M4V is delivered to a national cohort who are interested in improving healthcare delivery. The design of the program is based on evidence that the most important way to learn how to improve health services is with stakeholders (Myron et al., 2018). Health service improvement involves many practical skills, especially ‘soft skills’ centring on engagement with health workers, managers and consumers; the only way to learn and hone these skills is to practice. Teaching within the Clinical Redesign program is therefore centred on practice, using experiential learning, problem solving and the analysis of practice within theoretical frameworks (Kolb, 2015). A major strategy for increasing students’ application of new knowledge has been through work-integrated learning, a pedagogy that essentially integrates theory with the practice of work within a purposely-designed curriculum (Thistlethwaite, 2013).

The course content is designed to step students through a health service improvement initiative. Assessment tasks are tied to key initiative milestones and are designed to assess the student, but at the same time are documents used by the students’ organisation to demonstrate their commitment to delivering quality care.

The outcomes of the program are multifaceted and reach beyond meeting the intended learning outcomes. Students have published project outcomes, received local quality and safety awards, presented at conferences and have been finalists in state quality and safety awards. The involvement of students in initiatives undertaken as part of the course extends the breadth of learning, indirectly improving other staff members’ skills and confidence in undertaking system changes.

References

Kolb, D. (2015). Experiential Learning, Experience as the Source of Learning and Development (2^nd Ed). Pearson Education: New Jersey.

Myron, R., French, C., Sullivan, P., Sathyamoorthy, G., Barlow, J. and Pomeroy, L. (2018). Professionals learning together with patients: An exploratory study of a collaborative learning Fellowship programme for healthcare improvement, Journal of Interprofessional Care, 32(3), 257-265.

Thistlethwaithe, J., E. (2013). Practice-based Learning Across and Between the Health professions: A Conceptual Exploration of Definitions and Diversity and their Impact on Interprofessional Education. The Higher Education Academy, 1(1), 15-28.