Evaluating the perceived impact and legacy of master's degree level research in the allied health professions: a UK-wide cross-sectional survey.

BACKGROUND: Post graduate master's degree qualifications are increasingly required to advance allied health profession careers in education, clinical practice, leadership, and research. Successful awards are dependent on completion of a research dissertation project. Despite the high volume of experience gained and research undertaken at this level, the benefits and impact are not well understood. Our study aimed to evaluate the perceived impact and legacy of master's degree training and research on allied health profession practice and research activity. METHODS: A cross-sectional online survey design was used to collect data from allied health professionals working in the United Kingdom who had completed a postgraduate master's degree. Participants were recruited voluntarily using social media and clinical interest group advertisement. Data was collected between October and December 2022 and was analysed using descriptive statistics and narrative content analysis. Informed consent was gained, and the study was approved by the university research ethics committee. RESULTS: Eighty-four responses were received from nine allied health professions with paramedics and physiotherapists forming the majority (57%) of respondents. Primary motivation for completion of the master's degree was for clinical career progression (n = 44, 52.4%) and formation of the research dissertation question was predominantly sourced from individual ideas (n = 58, 69%). Formal research output was low with 27.4% (n = 23) of projects published in peer reviewed journal and a third of projects reporting no output or dissemination at all. Perceived impact was rated highest in individual learning outcomes, such as improving confidence and capability in clinical practice and research skills. Ongoing research engagement and activity was high with over two thirds (n = 57, 67.9%) involved in formal research projects. CONCLUSION: The focus of master's degree level research was largely self-generated with the highest perceived impact on individual outcomes rather than broader clinical service and organisation influence. Formal output from master's research was low, but ongoing research engagement and activity was high suggesting master's degree training is an under-recognised source for AHP research capacity building. Future research should investigate the potential benefits of better coordinated and prioritised research at master's degree level on professional and organisational impact.

Exploring individual character traits and behaviours of clinical academic allied health professionals: a qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: Clinical academic allied health professionals can positively impact patient care, organisational performance, and local research culture. Despite a previous national drive to increase these roles, they remain low in number with no clear strategy for growth. Reported barriers to this growth cite organisational and economic factors with little recognition of the challenges posed to individuals. There is a lack of research to help allied health professionals understand the personal challenges of clinical academic training and practice. The aim of this study is to explore the character traits and behaviours of clinical academic allied health professionals to understand the individual attributes and strategies taken to pursue a career in this field. METHODS: A semi-structured interview study design was used to collect data from aspiring and established clinical academic allied health professionals. Participants were recruited voluntarily through social media advertisement (aspiring) and purposively through direct email invitation (established). Participants were asked about their experience of pursuing a clinical academic career. The interviews were conducted virtually using Zoom and were audio recorded. The data were transcribed verbatim prior to reflexive thematic analysis. Informed consent was gained prior to data collection and the study was approved by the university's research ethics committee. RESULTS: Twenty participants from six allied health professions were interviewed. We developed five themes: risk and reward, don't wait to be invited, shifting motivations, research is a team sport, and staying the course. Clinical academic allied health professionals demonstrated traits including inquisitiveness, intuition, motivation, and resilience. The source of their motivation was rooted in improving clinical services, conducting research, and personal achievement. CONCLUSION: Clinical academic allied health professionals describe personal traits of high inquisitiveness, opportunism, motivation, and determination in pursuing their career ambitions. The tolerance of rejection, failure, and risk was considered important and viewed as an essential source for learning and professional development. Future research should concentrate on ways to reduce the over-reliance on individual strength of character to succeed in this field and explore programmes to increase the preparedness and support for clinical academics from these professions.

Exploring research capacity and culture of allied health professionals: a mixed methods evaluation.

BACKGROUND: Despite the myriad benefits of research to patients, professionals, and organisations, fewer than 0.1% of the Allied Health Professions workforce are employed in clinical academic roles. Identified barriers include a lack of role modelling, management support, funding, and availability of clinical academic roles. Research capacity building is critical to improving Allied Health Professional research capability. The aim of this evaluation was to explore the current research capacity and culture of Allied Health Professionals to inform future tailored research capacity building strategies at a local level. METHODS: A mixed methods evaluation of research capacity and culture was conducted within the Allied Health Professions department of a large National Health Service Foundation Trust using an online research capacity and culture questionnaire, followed by focus groups. Staff were recruited using a purposive method with the questionnaire and subsequent focus groups completed between July and September 2020. Data from the questionnaire was analysed using simple descriptive statistics and after inductive coding, focus group data was analysed thematically. RESULTS: 93 out of 278 staff completed the questionnaire and 60 staff members attended seven focus groups. The research capacity and culture survey reported the department's key strength as promoting clinical practice based on evidence (median=8, range=6-9). A key reported weakness of the department was insufficient resources to support staff research training (med=4, 3-6). Respondents considered themselves most skilled in finding relevant literature (med=6, 5-8) and least skilled at securing research funding (med=1, 1-2). Greater than half of the respondents (n=50) reported not currently being involved with research. Five themes were identified from the focus groups: empowerment; building research infrastructure; fostering research skills; access for all; and positive research culture. CONCLUSIONS: Allied Health Professionals recognise the benefits of research at teams and departmental level, but marginally at an individual level. Local research capacity building strategies should aim to address the role, responsibilities and barriers to Allied Health Profession research development at an individual level. To ensure all staff can engage, research infrastructure and empowerment are essential.

Delegation of patient related tasks to allied health assistants: a time motion study.

BACKGROUND: Allied health assistants (AHAs) are support staff who complete patient and non-patient related tasks under the delegation of an allied health professional. Delegating patient related tasks to AHAs can benefit patients and allied health professionals. However, it is unclear whether the AHA workforce is utilised optimally in the provision of patient care. The purpose of this study was to determine the proportion of time AHAs spend on patient related tasks during their working day and any differences across level of AHA experience, clinical setting, and profession delegating the task. METHODS: A time motion study was conducted using a self-report, task predominance work sampling method. AHAs were recruited from four publicly-funded health organisations in Victoria, Australia. AHAs worked with dietitians, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, podiatrists, social workers, speech pathologists, psychologists, and exercise physiologists. The primary outcome was quantity of time spent by AHAs on individual task-categories. Tasks were grouped into two main categories: patient or non-patient related activities. Data were collected from July 2020 to May 2021 using an activity capture proforma specifically designed for this study. Logistic mixed-models were used to investigate the extent to which level of experience, setting, and delegating profession were associated with time spent on patient related tasks. RESULTS: Data from 51 AHAs showed that AHAs spent more time on patient related tasks (293 min/day, 64%) than non-patient related tasks (167 min/day, 36%). Time spent in community settings had lower odds of being delegated to patient related tasks than time in the acute hospital setting (OR 0.44, 95%CI 0.28 to 0.69, P < 0.001). Time delegated by exercise physiologists and dietitians was more likely to involve patient related tasks than time delegated by physiotherapists (exercise physiology: OR 3.77, 95% 1.90 to 7.70, P < 0.001; dietetics: OR 2.60, 95%CI 1.40 to 1.90, P = 0.003). Time delegated by other professions (e.g. podiatry, psychology) had lower odds of involving patient related tasks than physiotherapy (OR 0.37, 95%CI 0.16 to 0.85, P = 0.02). CONCLUSION: AHAs may be underutilised in community settings, and by podiatrists and psychologists. These areas may be targeted to understand appropriateness of task delegation to optimise AHAs' role in providing patient care.

Enablers and barriers to progressing a clinical academic career in nursing, midwifery and allied health professions: A cross-sectional survey.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to understand the routes by which nurses, midwives and allied health professionals (NMAHPs) pursue and sustain a research career and the enablers and barriers to career progression. BACKGROUND: Robust evidence is central to practice and professional decision making of NMAHPs, with generation and translation of research arguably best led by those clinically active. Whilst countries like the UK and USA have fellowship schemes to support research career development, anecdotal reports suggest barriers exist in translating these opportunities into sustainable clinical academic careers. DESIGN: Online survey. METHODS: An online questionnaire addressing career choices, facilitators/barriers and support was emailed to 1074 past applicants (doctoral and post-doctoral) to National Institute of Health Research fellowship schemes (awarded and rejected) in England between March and May 2017; 231 responded (25.6%). Study reporting adheres to STROBE checklist. RESULTS: Overall, 134 doctoral and 96 post-doctoral applicants participated; two-thirds were from allied health professions. Most were early in their research career. Interest in research was most frequently sparked by interaction with people in research positions. Nearly half had their first research experience during their BSc project; though less often for nurses/midwives/health visitors (37.5%) than other NMAHPs (51.6%). The award of a fellowship resulted in higher likelihood of being research-active (doctoral level). Nearly three quarters pursuing a clinical academic career indicated 'clearer career paths' and 'greater integration across clinical and academic departments' were desirable. Most common barriers related to research roles, availability of positions and funding. CONCLUSIONS: Fellowship schemes are important to NMAHPs' research careers, but there are serious challenges to establishing and sustaining a career. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Lack of a clear model of career progression, at national and local level, and barriers to creating joint posts impacts on capacity of clinical academics to strengthen integration of research with practice.

Evaluation of the Allied Health Rural Generalist Program 2017-2019.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the development and implementation of the Allied Health Rural Generalist Program, a two-level online post-graduate education program, which includes Level 1, an entry-level non-award pathway program, and Level 2, a Graduate Diploma in Rural Generalist Practice. DESIGN: A convergent mixed methodology evaluation in two overlapping stages: a process evaluation on quality and reach, together with a mixed method case study evaluation on benefits, of the program. SETTING: Rural and remote Australia across ten sites and seven allied health professions: dietetics; occupational therapy; pharmacy; physiotherapy; podiatry; radiography; speech pathology. PARTICIPANTS: Process evaluation included 91 participants enrolled in all or part of the Rural Generalist Program. Case study evaluation included 50 managers, supervisors and Rural Generalist Program participants from the ten study sites. INTERVENTIONS: The Allied Health Rural Generalist Program. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Process evaluation data were derived from enrolment data and education evaluation online surveys. Case study data were gathered via online surveys and semi-structured interviews. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected concurrently, analysed separately and then integrated to identify consistency, expansion or discordance across the data. RESULTS: The Rural Generalist Program was viewed as an effective education program that provided benefits for Rural Generalist Program participants, employing organisations and consumers. Key improvements recommended included increasing profession-specific and context-specific content, ensuring Rural Generalist Program alignment with clinical and project requirements, strengthening support mechanisms within employing organisations and ensuring benefits can be sustained in the long term. CONCLUSION: The Rural Generalist Program offers a promising strategy for building a fit-for-purpose rural and remote allied health workforce.

Destinations of nursing and allied health graduates from two Australian universities: A data linkage study to inform rural placement models.

OBJECTIVE: Combined, nursing and allied health constitute most of the Australian health workforce; yet, little is known about graduate practice destinations. University Departments of Rural Health have collaborated on the Nursing and Allied Health Graduate Outcomes Tracking to investigate graduate entry into rural practice. DESIGN: Data linkage cohort study. SETTING: Monash University and the University of Newcastle. PARTICIPANTS: Graduates who completed their degree in 2017 across seven disciplines. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): The outcome variable was Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency principal place of practice data. Explanatory variables included discipline, age, gender, location of origin, and number and duration of rural placements. RESULT: Of 1130 graduates, 51% were nurses, 81% females, 62% under 21 years at enrolment, 23% of rural origin, 62% had at least one rural student placement, and 23% had over 40 cumulative rural placement days. At the time of their second Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency registration, 18% worked in a 'Rural principal place of practice.' Compared to urban, rural origin graduates had 4.45 times higher odds ratio of 'Rural principal place of practice.' For graduates who had <20 cumulative rural placement days, compared to zero the odds ratio of 'Rural principal place of practice' was the same (odds ratio = 1.10). For those who had 20-40 rural placement days, the odds ratio was 1.93, and for >40 rural placement days, the odds ratio was 4.54). CONCLUSION: Rural origin and more rural placement days positively influenced graduate rural practice destinations. Outcomes of cumulative placements days may compare to immersive placements.

Profile and rural exposure for nursing and allied health students at two Australian Universities: A retrospective cohort study.

OBJECTIVE: Linking enrolment and professional placement data for students' from 2 universities, this study compares characteristics across universities and health disciplines. The study explores associations between students' location of origin and frequency, duration and type of placements. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort data linkage. SETTING: Two Australian universities, Monash University and the University of Newcastle. PARTICIPANTS: Students who completed medical radiation science, nursing, occupational therapy, pharmacy or physiotherapy at either university between 2 February 2017 and 28 February 2018. INTERVENTIONS: Location of origin, university and discipline of enrolment. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Main measures were whether graduates had multiple rural placements, number of rural placements and cumulative rural placement days. Location of origin, discipline and university of enrolment were the main explanatory variables. Secondary dependent variables were age, sex, socio-economic indices for location of origin, and available placements. RESULTS: A total of 1,315 students were included, of which 22.1% were of rural origin. The odds of rural origin students undertaking a rural placement was more than 4.5 times greater than for urban origin students. A higher proportion of rural origin students had multiple rural placement (56.0% vs 14.9%), with a higher mean number of rural placement days. Public hospitals were the most common placement type, with fewer in primary care, mental health or aged care. CONCLUSIONS: There is a positive association between rural origin and rural placements in nursing and allied health. To help strengthen recruitment and retention of graduates this association could be further exploited, while being inclusive of non-rural students.

Rationale and protocol for the Nursing and Allied Health Graduate Outcomes Tracking (NAHGOT) study: a large-scale longitudinal investigation of graduate practice destinations.

INTRODUCTION: Inequitable distribution of health workforce limits access to healthcare services and contributes to adverse health outcomes. WHO recommends tracking health professionals from their points of entry into university and over their careers for the purpose of workforce development and planning. Previous research has focused on medical students and graduates' choice of practice location. Few studies have targeted nursing and allied health graduates' practice intentions and destinations. The Nursing and Allied Health Graduate Outcomes Tracking (NAHGOT) study is investigating factors affecting Australian nursing and allied health students and graduates' choice of graduate practice location over the course of their studies and up to 10 years after graduation by linking multiple data sources, including routinely collected university administrative and professional placement data, surveys of students and graduates, and professional registration data. METHODS: By using a prospective cohort study design, each year a new cohort of about 2000 students at each participating university (Deakin University, Monash University and the University of Newcastle) is tracked throughout their courses and for 10 years after graduation. Disciplines include medical radiation practice, nursing and midwifery, occupational therapy, optometry, paramedicine, pharmacy, physiotherapy, podiatry and psychology. University enrolment data are collected at admission and professional placement data are collected annually. Students' practice destination intentions are collected via questions added into the national Student Experience Survey (SES). Data pertaining to graduates' practice destination, intentions and factors influencing choice of practice location are collected in the first and third years after graduation via questions added to the Australian Graduate Outcomes Survey (GOS). Additionally, participants may volunteer to receive a NAHGOT survey in the second and fourth-to-tenth years after graduation. Principal place of practice data are accessed via the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) annually. Linked data are aggregated and analysed to test hypotheses comparing associations between multiple variables and graduate practice location. RESULTS: This study seeks to add to the limited empirical evidence about factors that lead to rural practice in the nursing and allied health professions. This prospective large-scale, comprehensive study tracks participants from eight different health professions across three universities through their pre-registration education and into their postgraduate careers, an approach not previously reported in Australia. To achieve this, the NAHGOT study links data drawn from university enrolment and professional placement data, the SES, the GOS, online NAHGOT graduate surveys, and Ahpra data. The prospective cohort study design enables the use of both comparative analysis and hypothesis testing. The flexible and inclusive study design is intended to enable other universities, as well as those allied health professions not regulated by Ahpra, to join the study over time. CONCLUSION: The study demonstrates how the systematic, institutional tracking and research approach advocated by the WHO can be applied to the nursing and allied health workforce in Australia. It is expected that this large-scale, longitudinal, multifactorial, multicentre study will help inform future nursing and allied health university admission, graduate pathways and health workforce planning. Furthermore, the project could be expanded to explore health workforce attrition and thereby influence health workforce planning overall.

Psychological interventions to foster resilience in healthcare students.

BACKGROUND: Resilience can be defined as maintaining or regaining mental health during or after significant adversities such as a potentially traumatising event, challenging life circumstances, a critical life transition or physical illness. Healthcare students, such as medical, nursing, psychology and social work students, are exposed to various study- and work-related stressors, the latter particularly during later phases of health professional education. They are at increased risk of developing symptoms of burnout or mental disorders. This population may benefit from resilience-promoting training programmes. OBJECTIVES: To assess the effects of interventions to foster resilience in healthcare students, that is, students in training for health professions delivering direct medical care (e.g. medical, nursing, midwifery or paramedic students), and those in training for allied health professions, as distinct from medical care (e.g. psychology, physical therapy or social work students). SEARCH METHODS: We searched CENTRAL, MEDLINE, Embase, 11 other databases and three trial registries from 1990 to June 2019. We checked reference lists and contacted researchers in the field. We updated this search in four key databases in June 2020, but we have not yet incorporated these results. SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) comparing any form of psychological intervention to foster resilience, hardiness or post-traumatic growth versus no intervention, waiting list, usual care, and active or attention control, in adults (18 years and older), who are healthcare students. Primary outcomes were resilience, anxiety, depression, stress or stress perception, and well-being or quality of life. Secondary outcomes were resilience factors. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two review authors independently selected studies, extracted data, assessed risks of bias, and rated the certainty of the evidence using the GRADE approach (at post-test only). MAIN RESULTS: We included 30 RCTs, of which 24 were set in high-income countries and six in (upper- to lower-) middle-income countries. Twenty-two studies focused solely on healthcare students (1315 participants; number randomised not specified for two studies), including both students in health professions delivering direct medical care and those in allied health professions, such as psychology and physical therapy. Half of the studies were conducted in a university or school setting, including nursing/midwifery students or medical students. Eight studies investigated mixed samples (1365 participants), with healthcare students and participants outside of a health professional study field. Participants mainly included women (63.3% to 67.3% in mixed samples) from young adulthood (mean age range, if reported: 19.5 to 26.83 years; 19.35 to 38.14 years in mixed samples). Seventeen of the studies investigated group interventions of high training intensity (11 studies; > 12 hours/sessions), that were delivered face-to-face (17 studies). Of the included studies, eight compared a resilience training based on mindfulness versus unspecific comparators (e.g. wait-list). The studies were funded by different sources (e.g. universities, foundations), or a combination of various sources (four studies). Seven studies did not specify a potential funder, and three studies received no funding support. Risk of bias was high or unclear, with main flaws in performance, detection, attrition and reporting bias domains. At post-intervention, very-low certainty evidence indicated that, compared to controls, healthcare students receiving resilience training may report higher levels of resilience (standardised mean difference (SMD) 0.43, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.07 to 0.78; 9 studies, 561 participants), lower levels of anxiety (SMD -0.45, 95% CI -0.84 to -0.06; 7 studies, 362 participants), and lower levels of stress or stress perception (SMD -0.28, 95% CI -0.48 to -0.09; 7 studies, 420 participants). Effect sizes varied between small and moderate. There was little or no evidence of any effect of resilience training on depression (SMD -0.20, 95% CI -0.52 to 0.11; 6 studies, 332 participants; very-low certainty evidence) or well-being or quality of life (SMD 0.15, 95% CI -0.14 to 0.43; 4 studies, 251 participants; very-low certainty evidence). Adverse effects were measured in four studies, but data were only reported for three of them. None of the three studies reported any adverse events occurring during the study (very-low certainty of evidence). AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: For healthcare students, there is very-low certainty evidence for the effect of resilience training on resilience, anxiety, and stress or stress perception at post-intervention. The heterogeneous interventions, the paucity of short-, medium- or long-term data, and the geographical distribution restricted to high-income countries limit the generalisability of results. Conclusions should therefore be drawn cautiously. Since the findings suggest positive effects of resilience training for healthcare students with very-low certainty evidence, high-quality replications and improved study designs (e.g. a consensus on the definition of resilience, the assessment of individual stressor exposure, more attention controls, and longer follow-up periods) are clearly needed.

The understanding of research ethics at health sciences schools in Jordan: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Research ethics is required for high-quality research that positively influences society. There is limited understanding of research ethics in Middle Eastern countries including Jordan. Here, we aim to investigate the level of understanding of research ethics principles among health sciences faculty members in Jordan. METHODS: This is a cross sectional study where faculty members from the University of Jordan were surveyed for their knowledge and, attitude of research ethics principles. The study was conducted in the period between July 2016 to July 2017 using a customized-design questionnaire involving demographic data and participants' contributions toward research, and assessment of participants' knowledge, belief and attitude towards research ethics. Different question-formats have been used including multiple-choice, yes or no, and a four point Likert-type questions. Obtained responses were tabulated according to gender, academic-rank, and knowledge about research ethics principles. RESULTS: The study had a response rate of 51%. Among the 137 participants of this study, most (96%) were involved in human and animal research, yet, only 2/3 had prior training in research ethics. Moreover, 91% believed that investigators should have training in research ethics and 87% believed that there should be a mandatory postgraduate course on that. The average correct scores for correct understanding of researchers towards research ethics was 62%. Yet, there were some misconceptions about the major ethical principles as only 43% identified them correctly. Additionally, the role of research ethics committees was not well understood by most of the respondents. CONCLUSIONS: Although there is acceptable knowledge about research ethics, discrepancies in understanding in research ethics principles seems to exist. There is a large support for further training in responsible conduct of research by faculty in health sciences in Jordan. Thus, such training should be required by universities to address this knowledge gap in order to improve research quality and its impact on society.

What students and new graduates perceive supports them to think, feel and act as a health professional in a rural setting.

OBJECTIVE: Clinical placements in rural locations are perceived by students to provide positive learning experiences to support their transition to practice. This study explores how clinical placements in a rural health setting might influence students and new graduates to think, feel and act as a health professional. DESIGN: A qualitative study comprising focus group discussions was conducted. SETTING: The study was conducted in a rural health service in Queensland, Australia. PARTICIPANTS: Allied health students (n = 12) on placement and new graduates (n = 11) working in a regional health service. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: This study identified allied health student and new graduate perspectives on clinical placement factors which support them to think, feel and act as a health professional. RESULTS: Thematic analysis was used to understand student and new graduate perceptions of how rural placements support thinking, feeling and acting as a health professional. Suggestions for supporting learning included the following: Development of learning partnerships between students and clinical educators with inbuilt expectations and opportunities for reflection and supervision. Creating a culture where students are welcomed, valued and encouraged to take meal breaks with the team supported connectedness. The importance of balancing student autonomy with educating and grading support to increase independence. CONCLUSIONS: Findings show clinical placement experiences identified by allied health students and new graduates which support them to begin to think, feel and act as a health professional. Suggestions provided by students and new graduates can be used to inform implementation of clinical placement experiences.

Clinical educators' skills and qualities in allied health: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: The skills and qualities of effective clinical educators are linked to improved student learning and ultimately patient care; however, within allied health these have not yet been systematically summarised in the literature. AIMS: To identify and synthesise the skills and qualities of clinical educators in allied health and their effect on student learning and patient care. METHOD: A systematic search of the literature was conducted across five electronic databases in November 2017. Study identification, data extraction and quality appraisal were performed in duplicate. Qualitative and quantitative data were extracted separately but analysed together using a thematic analysis approach whereby items used in quantitative surveys and themes from qualitative approaches were interpreted together. RESULTS: Data revealed seven educator skills and qualities: (i) intrinsic and personal attributes of clinical educators; (ii) provision of skillful feedback; (iii) teaching skills; (iv) fostering collaborative learning; (v) understanding expectations; (vi) organisation and planning; and (vii) clinical educators in their professional role. Across all themes was the concept of taking time to perform the clinical educator role. No studies used objective measurements as to how these skills and qualities affect learning or patient care. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Despite much primary evidence of clinical educator skills and qualities, this review presents the first synthesis of this evidence in allied health. There is a need to examine clinical education from new perspectives to develop deeper understanding of how clinical educator qualities and skills influence student learning and patient care.

The impact of clinical placements on the emotional intelligence of occupational therapy, physiotherapy, speech pathology, and business students: a longitudinal study.

BACKGROUND: Emotional intelligence (EI) is a critical skill for healthcare practitioners. Minimal longitudinal research has tracked the changes in EI of therapy students over their final full-time clinical placements. METHODS: The Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i2.0) measured the EI of 283 therapy students and 93 business students (control group who do no clinical placements) at three time points over a 16-month period, the same period that the therapy students participated in clinical placements. RESULTS: Analysis of the therapy students showed significant increases over the 16 months of the study in Total EI score, as well as nine other EI skills. However, large percentages of students reported declining scores in emotional-expression, assertiveness, self-expression, and stress tolerance, with some students reporting low EI scores before commencing full-time extended clinical placements. CONCLUSIONS: The study contributes to new knowledge about the changing EI skills of therapy students as they complete their full-time, extended placements. Emotional intelligence in student therapists should be actively fostered during coursework, clinical placements and when first entering the workforce. University educators are encouraged to include EI content through the therapy curricula. Employers are encouraged to provide peer coaching, mentoring and workshops focused on EI skills to recent graduates.

["VigilanSeu.r.se": A new profession?] / « VigilanSeu.r.se ¼ : un nouveau métier ?

In January 2015, in accordance with decades of scientific work based on maintaining contact, was born an innovative device for suicide prevention: VigilanS. To ensure this link, the choice was made to build a team with an equal number of nurses and psychologists, all located within the medical regulation. Nowadays, they are named "VigilanSeur": an original entity that highlights the emergence of this new profession, at the crossroads of several disciplines.

Simulation of integrative physiology for medical education.

Medical education is founded on the understanding of physiology. While lecture materials and reading contribute to the learning of physiology, the richness and complexity of the subject suggest that more active learning methods may provide a richer introduction to the science as it applies to the practice of medicine. Simulation has been previously used in basic science to better understand the interaction of physiological systems. In the current context, simulation generally refers to interactive case studies performed with a manikin or anatomic device. More recently, simulation has grown to encompass computational simulation: virtual models of physiology and pathophysiology where students can see in a mechanistic setting how tissues and organs interact with one another to respond to changes in their environment. In this manuscript, we discuss how simulation fits into the overall history of medical education, and detail two computational simulation products designed for medical education. The first of these is an acute simulator, JustPhysiology, which reduces the scope of a large model, HumMod, down to a more focused interface. The second is Sycamore, an electronic health record-delivered, real time simulator of patients designed to teach chronic patient care to students. These products represent a new type of tool for medical and allied health students to encourage active learning and integration of basic science knowledge into clinical situations.

Learning from those who have gone before: strengthening the rural allied health workforce in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Context and issues: The pipeline for the allied health, scientific and technical workforce of Aotearoa New Zealand is under growing pressure, with many health providers finding recruitment and retention increasingly difficult. For health providers in rural settings, the challenges are even greater, with fewer applicants and shorter tenures. As the health needs of rural communities increase, along with expectations of uptake of technologies and the Ministry of Health's strategy to ensure care is provided closer to home, being able to retain and upskill the diminishing workforce requires new ways of thinking. Lessons learned: Understanding the activity that has been undertaken by medical and nursing workforces in New Zealand and abroad, as well as the work of the Australian allied health workforce provides context and opportunities for New Zealand. The challenge is for educators, professional bodies, the Ministry of Health and health providers to develop new ways of thinking about developing a rural workforce for the allied health scientific and technical professions.

South African primary health care allied health clinical practice guidelines: the big picture.

BACKGROUND: Good quality clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) are a vehicle to implementing evidence into allied health (AH) care. This paper reports on the current 'state of play' of CPGs in a lower-to-middle-income country (South Africa), where primary healthcare (PHC) AH activities face significant challenges in terms of ensuring quality service delivery in the face of huge PHC need. METHODS: A qualitative study was conducted, using semi-structured interviews with purposively-sampled individuals involved in AH PHC CPGs in South Africa. They included national and state government policy-makers, academics and educators, service managers, clinicians, representatives of professional associations, technical writers, and members of informal professional networks. The interview data was transcribed and de-identified, and analysed descriptively by hand-coding. The COREQ statement guided study conduct and reporting. A framework to guide research in other countries into perspectives of AH PHC CPG activities was established. RESULTS: Of the 32 invited, 29 people participated: of these 25 were interviewed and four provided meeting notes. Most participants had multiple professional roles, being engaged concurrently in clinical practice, academia, professional associations and / or government. Key themes comprised Players (sub-themes of sampling frame, participants, advice, role players and collaboration); Guidance (sub-themes of nomenclature, drivers, purpose, evidence sources) and Role of AH in PHC (sub-themes of discipline groupings, disability and rehabilitation, AH recognition). CONCLUSION: There was consistently-expressed desire for quality guidance to support better quality AH PHC activities around the country. However no international CPGs were used, and there were no South African CPGs specific to local PHC AH practice. The guidance gap was filled by non-evidence-based documents produced often without training, to deal with specific clinical situations. This led to frustration, duplication and fragmentation of effort, confusing nomenclature, and an urgent need for standardised and agreed guidance. We provided a standardised framework to capture perspectives on CPGs activities in other AH PHC settings.

T-levels: a skills-based qualification.

Sam Foster, Chief Nurse, Oxford University Hospitals, describes preparations under way for T-levels-the latest qualification that young people interested in a career in health care will be able to take.

Using the cognitive interviewing process to improve survey design by allied health: A qualitative study.

BACKGROUND/AIM: Allied health professionals frequently use surveys to collect data for clinical practice and service improvement projects. Careful development and piloting of purpose-designed surveys is important to ensure intended measuring (that respondents correctly interpret survey items when responding). Cognitive interviewing is a specific technique that can improve the design of self-administered surveys. The aim of this study was to describe the use of the cognitive interviewing process to improve survey design, which involved a purpose-designed, online survey evaluating staff use of functional electrical stimulation. METHODS: A qualitative study involving one round of cognitive interviewing with three occupational therapists and three physiotherapists. RESULTS: The cognitive interviewing process identified 11 issues with the draft survey, which could potentially influence the validity and quality of responses. The raised issues included difficulties with: processing the question to be able to respond, determining a response to the question, retrieving relevant information from memory and comprehending the written question. Twelve survey amendments were made following the cognitive interviewing process, comprising four additions, seven revisions and one correction. CONCLUSIONS: The cognitive interviewing process applied during the development of a purpose-designed survey enabled the identification of potential problems and informed revisions to the survey prior to its use.