The experiences of diplomates of a postgraduate health science education programme: a qualitative study

Abstract

Background: An increasing number of interventions have been reported over the last ten years in the area of faculty development. We define faculty development as a series of planned activities aimed at preparing individuals for their teaching role. The planned activities include short workshop sessions of 2-3 hours in length and a 3-day introductory course in teaching and assessment. In 2014 we commenced a postgraduate diploma in health science education in a Faculty of Health Sciences in South Africa. The purpose of this study was to obtain perceptions from the first group of participants about the programme. Methods: The qualitative paradigm was chosen for this study and two focus groups were conducted with a total of ten participants. The focus groups were audio-taped and transcribed verbatim and the transcripts were analysed using Tesch's approach (Cresswell, 2014) for qualitative analysis. Results: Four themes were identified: a new language, being a student again, seeing students as adult learners and a whole new world. The first theme was characterised by feelings of anxiety and loss as they grappled with understanding the language of the discipline of pedagogy. Participants generally enjoyed being a student again and this resulted in some reflection on their own students and seeing things from the student's perspective. The last theme describes the new world in which participants felt that they now planned teaching and learning with insight rather than from their previous knowledge base of learning by doing and observing. Conclusion: The findings of this study suggest that the postgraduate diploma is appreciated and that participants have learnt from their experiences. Ways must be found to support those who have completed the programme in taking their learning forward and implementing new knowledge.