Value-adding to health professional student placement experiences: Enhancing work readiness and employability through a rural community engagement program

Abstract

Enriching health professional students' placement experiences through targeted community engagement has the potential to help develop their preparedness to provide healthcare to the broader community. In 2011 the University of Newcastle Department of Rural Health (UONDRH) embarked on a program of multidisciplinary community engagement which consisted of short, extracurricular community-engaged learning experiences integrated with the students' professional placements. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the program was adding to the students' rural health placement experiences based on perceptions of both the students themselves and UONDRH staff.A mixed methods approach used a student survey (n = 96), which included both closed and open-ended questions, and semi-structured interviews with staff members involved in delivery of the community engagement program (n = 15). Data were explored together for intersections and commonalities. The overarching key concept was 'Enhancing Work Readiness and Employability'. Both student and staff perceived that students' participation in community engagement improved their employment prospects. Three themes emerged from the data, which underpinned and supported the key concept. These were: 'Expanding professional practice capabilities'; 'Building confidence and showing motivation', and 'Better understanding the nature of rural practice'.The results of this study provide support to the notion that there was value for students in this form of short-term, community engagement activities, many of which could be readily integrated into existing health professional education programs with considerable benefits. It would also lend itself to other non-health professional programs, such as law, journalism or business studies, as a means of broadening the students' perspectives beyond the limits of their own professional horizons.

<p>Immersive placement experiences promote rural intent in allied health students of urban and rural origin</p>

“…Using qualitative and quantitative methodology, this in-depth study adds to the limited literature regarding allied health student placement experiences of UDRH placements and their workplace intentions 6,9,17,18,21,26. The results provide insights into the immersive placement experiences of UONDRH allied health students and the effect on their rural practice intentions, comparing outcomes between those from a rural vs an urban background.…”

“…The study findings highlight that the community engagement activities undertaken by the students provide opportunities for this integration. Previous research findings suggest students have a better understanding of the nature of rural practice through integrating with the local community, particularly with rural people from low socioeconomic and Indigenous backgrounds 6. Integrating community engagement activities into the UONDRH program continues to have positive benefits.…”

“…The UONDRH employs a range of allied health academics to provide discipline-specific support to students in the form of lectures and tutorials, co-ordinate clinical placements, develop and deliver interprofessional education, and facilitate rural-focused community engagement and social activities, as well as undertake and support research 5. The UONDRH community engagement program supports students on placement in the region to learn from and with the local community, particularly with those from a low socioeconomic and/or Indigenous background 6…”

Understanding the elements of a quality rural/remote interprofessional education activity: A rough guide

“…In educational settings or in an online environment, academic staff and invited guests (including clinicians and patients) join with students to interact and learn together with a focus on teamwork and health care practice in a rural context. These modules provide an opportunity for students to prepare for patient‐centred collaborative practice, while undertaking interprofessional community engagement activities that help build team skills in a rural context 17 …”

Supporting health students on rural placements: A scoping review

“…In 2012, the National Rural Health Alliance 8 undertook an enquiry into the factors affecting the supply of health services and medical professionals in rural areas and identified the need to place more students in rural placements, to extend the coverage of the UDRHs and attract more rural students into health professions 9 . This investment in the UDRHs, through the Commonwealth Rural Health Multidisciplinary Training Scheme, enables high‐quality rural training to address the maldistribution of the rural health workforce 1,2,4,9,10 . Research evidence indicates a synchronicity between undertaking a rural placement with high levels of student satisfaction and intention to practice rurally 1,4,11 .…”