Stepping out of the shadows: Allied health student and academic perceptions of the impact of a service-learning experience on student's work-readiness and employability.

Abstract

Universities, health services and health students have a vested interest in the development of work-ready graduates to improve employment prospects, standards of practice and healthcare outcomes. Work integrated learning supports the transition of theoretical knowledge into professional practice, thus preparing students for their work following graduation. The positive impact of practice experiences on work-readiness and employability is largely assumed. This paper describes the impact of participation in a rural Australian service-learning program on student and academic perceptions of work-readiness and future employability. Qualitative data was gathered from allied health students who participated in inter-professional focus groups and allied health academics who participated in individual interviews. The findings indicate that students were challenged in transitioning from being observational or highly directed learners, described as [being in the] 'shadows' or 'shadowing', to semi-autonomous healthcare providers. Participants reported enhanced perceptions of future employability through 'real work' experiences and identified broader program implications for universities and students. Based on participant experiences, service-learning, a relatively new educational pedagogy in rural health education in Australia, may provide universities, health services, and students with an alternative to acute hospital placements in the development of work-ready attributes for new graduate allied health practitioners.

Students’ Experiences and Perceptions of Interprofessional Supervision on Placement

“…These studies focus on students' experiences of IP communication and practice, understanding the roles of other disciplines, attitudes towards IPL, peer learning, and joint IP sessions and debriefs. Students' reports of IP learning are typically positive (see, for example, Jones, McAllister, and Lyle 2015). However, as supervision is key to the learning of students on placements, more focus needs to be placed on exploring the requirements for effective IP supervision in the education of health students (Diack, Gibson, Munro, andStrath 2014, McCarthy 2006).…”

Challenging Remote Community Deficit Perspectives: An Australian Insight into the Role of These Communities in the Design of Their Health Services and the Development of Their Health Workforce

“…This article presents the community findings associated with partnership initiation, catalysts for participation, and participation impacts, identified through Stage 3 of data analyses. Other findings, such as campus and student impacts of participation have been presented elsewhere Lyle 2015a, Jones, McAllister, andLyle 2015b, Jones, McAllister, andLyle In Press).…”

“…Six SP and four OT students undertake an inter-professional service-learning (Clark et al 2015) placement for periods of six to eight weeks across the four school terms. This created a student 'team continuum' (Jones, McAllister, and Lyle 2015a) to enhance service continuity. Approximately 150 regional children accessed these services annually.…”

Design and delivery of an innovative speech pathology service-learning program for primary school children in Far West NSW, Australia

“…29 There is a large body of evidence about its positive impact on student learning, including evaluation data from the Broken Hill allied health student-led clinics. 30,31 However, there is limited information about the impact and outcomes of substantial clinical programs such as this for communities and clients. These findings show that clinically based allied health servicelearning programs are feasible and can be sustainable in the Australian setting.…”