University of Tasmania
Browse

File(s) under permanent embargo

Preparedness for practice: the perceptions of graduates of a regional clinical school

journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-19, 05:42 authored by Jennifer BarrJennifer Barr, Kathryn OgdenKathryn Ogden, Kim RooneyKim Rooney, Iain RobertsonIain Robertson

Objective: To assess graduates’ self-reported preparedness with reference to a range of clinical practice capabilities, including those related to patient-centred care.

Design: A retrospective survey of self-reported preparedness for practice, based on a survey developed by the Peninsula Medical School (United Kingdom) and adapted to account for Australian circumstances and to provide more information about patientcentred care-related capabilities.

Setting and participants: Launceston Clinical School, a regional clinical school for undergraduate medical students. Medical students who had graduated during 2005-2014 and were contactable by email were invited to participate in the study.

Main outcome measures: Graduates’ self-reported preparedness for practice in 44 practice areas, measured on a 5-point Likert scale.

Results: Responses from 135 graduates (50% of invited graduates, 38% of the eligible graduate population) were received. Most graduates felt prepared in 41 of the 44 practice areas; 80% felt at least well prepared in 17 areas. After clustering the 44 areas into six thematic groups, no differences were found between men and women who had graduated in the past 4 years. As male graduates become more experienced (5e10 years after graduation), retrospective perceptions of preparedness in some areas differed from those of more recent graduates; this was not found for female graduates.

Conclusion: The survey identified strengths and weaknesses in the preparation of doctors for practice. It could be more broadly applied in Australia to obtain longitudinal data for assessing the quality of learning for curriculum planning purposes, and for aligning graduates’ needs and expectations with those of the medical training and health care employment sectors.

History

Publication title

Medical Journal of Australia

Volume

206

Issue

10

Pagination

447-452

ISSN

0025-729X

Department/School

Tasmanian School of Medicine

Publisher

Australasian Medical Pub. Co.

Place of publication

0025-729X

Rights statement

Copyright 2017 AMPCo Pty Ltd.

Repository Status

  • Restricted

Socio-economic Objectives

Assessment, development and evaluation of curriculum

Usage metrics

    University Of Tasmania

    Exports

    RefWorks
    BibTeX
    Ref. manager
    Endnote
    DataCite
    NLM
    DC