Presentation Description
Pieter Jansen1
Gabriela Mena Ribadeneira1 and Asela Olupeliyawa1
1 Academy for Medical Education, Medical School, The University of Queensland
Gabriela Mena Ribadeneira1 and Asela Olupeliyawa1
1 Academy for Medical Education, Medical School, The University of Queensland
Background:
Final-year medical students undergo a marked transformation from senior student to junior professional. Facilitating students to self-identify their learning goals related to “Intern Preparedness” may be particularly useful at this stage of learning.
Final-year medical students undergo a marked transformation from senior student to junior professional. Facilitating students to self-identify their learning goals related to “Intern Preparedness” may be particularly useful at this stage of learning.
Summary of work:
As part of assessment of their Elective, final-year medical students in our Doctor of Medicine (MD) Program write a standardised learning plan and reflective essay to formulate and reflect on their personal learning goals. In 2023 We asked students to specifically identify goals related to Intern Preparedness based on the Medical Deans Australia and New Zealand Guidance Statement: Clinical Practice Core Competencies for Graduating Medical Students (2020) (1). We evaluated the self-reported learning goals and end-of-placement reflections related to Intern Preparedness from 50 final-year medical students.
As part of assessment of their Elective, final-year medical students in our Doctor of Medicine (MD) Program write a standardised learning plan and reflective essay to formulate and reflect on their personal learning goals. In 2023 We asked students to specifically identify goals related to Intern Preparedness based on the Medical Deans Australia and New Zealand Guidance Statement: Clinical Practice Core Competencies for Graduating Medical Students (2020) (1). We evaluated the self-reported learning goals and end-of-placement reflections related to Intern Preparedness from 50 final-year medical students.
Results:
Learning goals related to “Clinical communication”, “Clinical knowledge and skills” and “Safe prescribing” were most frequently reported and those related to "Health systems”, “Public Health” and “Indigenous health” least frequently reported. Reflective essays suggested opportunities and challenges encountered when pursuing these goals.
Learning goals related to “Clinical communication”, “Clinical knowledge and skills” and “Safe prescribing” were most frequently reported and those related to "Health systems”, “Public Health” and “Indigenous health” least frequently reported. Reflective essays suggested opportunities and challenges encountered when pursuing these goals.
Conclusion and Discussion:
Students’ self-reported learning goals are strongly centred around technical skills of medicine, whereas goals related to the broader context of medicine are relatively underreported. This could relate to lack of students’ awareness of the full breadth of graduate outcomes, but the specific context of individual placements will also be relevant. Its relation with students’ learning goals is likely bi-directional as students’ goals and aspirations will strongly determine their choice of placement, and in turn their learning goals will be influenced by the opportunities that are present.
Students’ self-reported learning goals are strongly centred around technical skills of medicine, whereas goals related to the broader context of medicine are relatively underreported. This could relate to lack of students’ awareness of the full breadth of graduate outcomes, but the specific context of individual placements will also be relevant. Its relation with students’ learning goals is likely bi-directional as students’ goals and aspirations will strongly determine their choice of placement, and in turn their learning goals will be influenced by the opportunities that are present.
Take-home messages:
- Encouraging students to define their own learning goals is a useful strategy to support their transition to clinical practice and foster a mindset of lifelong learning (2);
- Reflection is an important strategy for curriculum development to enhance Intern Preparedness teaching and learning.
References (maximum three)
1. MDANZ Guidance Statement: Clinical practice core competencies for graduating medical students; May 2020. Available from: https://medicaldeans.org.au/md/2023/06/mdanz_2020_may_core_competencies.pdf
2. Ross et al. Effective competency-based medical education requires learning environments that promote a mastery goal orientation: A narrative review. Med Teach 2022 May;44(5):527- 534.