The Practice Placement Education Experience: An Australian Pilot Study Exploring the Perspectives of Health Professional Students with a Disability

Abstract

Practice placement education is an essential component of health professional programmes. The number of students with a disability entering health professional education programmes is anticipated to rise, yet research about the perspectives of students with a disability is limited, especially related to practice placement education. Therefore, the need to investigate student experiences has intensified. In this study, qualitative research methodology was used to investigate the perceptions, feelings and experiences of health professional students with a disability during practice placement education. Five health professional students, recruited from a regional university in New South Wales, Australia, participated in semi-structured, individual interviews. A phenomenological approach was used. Following inductive analysis of the data, three themes reflecting the students' experience of practice placement education emerged: the impact of disability, including the barriers and the strategies used to overcome these; the experiences of practice placement education, including the feelings of the participants; and support, which came from the practice placement educator, the university staff, family and friends. This pilot study provides valuable insight into the perspectives of these students about practice placement education. The findings reinforce the need for further exploration of the unique experiences of students with a disability to ensure success within their university programme and future profession.

The experience of disabled and non-disabled students on professional practice placements in the United Kingdom

“…Botham & Nicholson, 2014;Brown, James, & MacKenzie, 2006;Griffiths, 2012;MacLeod & Cebula, 2009;Riddell et al, 2007). In addition, the only research study, prior to the research presented in this paper, that has investigated the experience of disabled and non-disabled students on professional programmes, compared the degree outcomes of students on one initial teacher education (ITE) programme (Fuller, Healey, Hurst, Riddell & Wareham, 2008).…”

“…Students with similar impairments can also have different experiences (e.g. Brown, James & MacKenzie, 2006) suggesting that several factors can combine to impact on their overall placement experience.…”

“My view that disability is okay sometimes clashes”: experiences of two disabled occupational therapists

“…Fieldwork education and the preparation of preceptors has been a particular challenge; most practice settings lack resources and supports that may be available at universities (22,(24)(25)(26)(27). Students have faced negative attitudes, lack of supports, lack of understanding and awareness, being treated like clients, and internalized anxieties (28). It is often challenging even finding placements for disabled students (22,29).…”

“…When Anna deliberately evokes impairment in the service of diminishing power differentials between herself and her clients, she is decidedly not value-neutral, she is not endorsing societal privileging of non-disabled ways of being and doing. Given the assumptions that prevail in ableist contexts (that disabled people are deficient, dependent, incapable), emphasizing impairment potentially undermines her power and authority as a health professional (28,30), which she does willingly to convey her belief that impairment should not be devalued and need not be "fixed". This marks a deliberate contradiction of ableism.…”

Development of physiotherapy inherent requirement statements – an Australian experience

“…negative attitudes) and institutional factors (e.g. non-disclosure, limitations caused by the disability) [7]. …”