Perceptions of the CP experience in the Bachelor of Emergency Medical Care at a South African University of Technology

Abstract

Work integrated learning (WIL) forms an integral part of emergency medical training in South Africa. Clinical practice is a subject in the curriculum of emergency medical care training in the Bachelor of Emergency Medical Care programme where students are required to participate in work integrated learning in the form of supervised clinical practice. Successful completion of a Bachelor in Emergency Medical Care requires students to participate and adhere to the requirements of the clinical practice subject. The research project intended to identify perceptions of lecturers and students on the strengths and weaknesses of the clinical practice subject, with a view to informing recommendations to improve learning. Data was collected through semi-structured, face to face interviews with lecturers involved with the subject and senior undergraduate students. Interview prompts were used to guide the interviews. Data was analysed by the researcher manually and in conjunction with the qualitative data analysing software, NVivo. The work integrated learning taking place in clinical practice is perceived as beneficial to both students and lecturers who believe it forms an important part of emergency medical care training. The strength of work integrated learning was the ability to learn from the experience of assessing and treating real-life patients. The clinical and teaching expertise and positive attitudes of the clinical mentors towards students also contributed toward learning. The perceived weakness of work integrated learning was shortage of infrastructure, both in the form of human resources and physical clinical learning areas like hospitals and clinics. There is a communication deficiency between the Universities and the personnel in the clinical learning areas, which is observed directly and through the mismatching of mentors to students in the different year levels. Any negative attitude of clinical mentors towards teaching and students also negatively affects the process of learning. Reciprocally, the attitudes of some students towards practitioners may contribute to the negative attitudes of the clinical mentors. The findings inform recommendations to ensure that clinical practice subject offerings at affected Universities provide optimal learning opportunities for emergency care students.