Health Science Students (health + science_student)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


A systematic review of peer teaching and learning in clinical education

JOURNAL OF CLINICAL NURSING, Issue 6 2008
Jacinta Secomb
Aims and objectives., The purpose of this review is to provide a framework for peer teaching and learning in the clinical education of undergraduate health science students in clinical practice settings and make clear the positive and negative aspects of this teaching and learning strategy. Background., The practice of using peers incidentally or purposefully in the clinical education of apprentice or undergraduate health science students is a well-established tradition and commonly practiced, but lacks definition in its implementation. Method., The author conducted a search of health science and educational electronic databases using the terms peer, clinical education and undergraduate. The set limitations were publications after 1980 (2005 inclusive), English language and research papers. Selection of studies occurred: based on participant, intervention, research method and learning outcomes, following a rigorous critical and quality appraisal with a purposefully developed tool. The results have been both tabled and collated in a narrative summary. Results., Twelve articles met the inclusion criteria, representing five countries and four health science disciplines. This review reported mostly positive outcomes on the effectiveness of peer teaching and learning; it can increase student's confidence in clinical practice and improve learning in the psychomotor and cognitive domains. Negative aspects were also identified; these include poor student learning if personalities or learning styles are not compatible and students spending less individualized time with the clinical instructor. Conclusions., Peer teaching and learning is an effective educational intervention for health science students on clinical placements. Preclinical education of students congruent with the academic timetable increases student educational outcomes from peer teaching and learning. Strategies are required prior to clinical placement to accommodate incompatible students or poor student learning. Relevance to clinical practice., The findings from this systematic review, although not statistically significant, do have pragmatic implications for clinical practice. It can increase clinical placement opportunities for undergraduate health students, assist clinical staff with workload pressures and increase clinician time with clients, while further developing students' knowledge, skills and attitudes. [source]


Happy and healthy only if occupied?

AUSTRALIAN OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY JOURNAL, Issue 1 2010
Perceptions of health sciences students on occupation in later life
Background/aim:,In this study, we bring attention to the university education of health science students with respect to occupation in later life. Our goal was to provide descriptive data from narratives of a group of undergraduate students and initiate discussion about the place of occupation in the context of ageing to answer the following questions: (i) How young people perceive successful ageing in relation to occupation? and (ii) can spirituality-related activities be considered occupations in later life? Methods:,Based on a thematic selection, the quality of photographs and reflective narratives, 60 Photovoice assignments created by health sciences students were analysed using content analysis. Results:,The findings of this study indicate that students seem to neglect the benefits of ,being' through spiritual engagement, and instead emphasise the importance of ,doing', and perpetuate pervasive successful ageing discourses in Western societies. Conclusions:,Occupational therapists have potential to take an active role in undergraduate health science education and to inform the development of holistic models that would include spirituality as an avenue to live late life to its fullest potential. Photovoice emerged as a powerful teaching method to increase awareness, empathy and compassion of young adults towards ageing. [source]