Reflecting on Students’ Experiences with Innovative Teaching Models in Clinical Placement: A Qualitative Study

Shaoting Feng,1,* Daya Yang,1,* Kunsong Zhang,1,* Gang Yuan,1 Hao Tang,1 Denise Findlay,2 Adam R Thomas,2 Lewis S MacKinnon,2 Ming Kuang,1 Haipeng Xiao,1 Dan Xu1,2 1First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China; 2Curtin Medical School, Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, Australia*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Dan Xu, Email [email protected] Ming Kuang, Email [email protected]: General practice (GP) placement teaching can be challenging because of time constraints, ineffective teaching models, and a lack of consensus approaches. GP clinics are more frequently used for undergraduate students’ learning to translate theoretical knowledge into clinical practice. Evidence suggests that a learner-centred approach is essential for facilitating deeper learning. “Student-led consultation under supervision” is one such learner-centred teaching model applied during GP placement, engaging both trainers and trainees in applying the core values of clinical thinking. This qualitative study intends to explore students’ learning outcomes when implementing the innovative teaching model “Student-led consultation under supervision during GP clinical placement” for potential quantitative introduction as a formal GP placement curriculum.Methods: A convergent mixed-method approach was applied using validated surveys and pre-designed questionnaires for individual reflection when implementing innovative teaching models in medical students’ GP placements. Thirty-five medical students from China and Australia participated in the study. Survey and reflection data were collected for descriptive and semantic analysis.Results: “Student-led consultation under supervision in a consultant’s chair with discussion” was the students’ most highly rated teaching model. Students’ reflections on the use of these teaching models were semantically analysed using a validated questionnaire. The students’ reflections highlighted the perceived academic benefits with identifying the enablers of and barriers to developing the formal GP placement curriculum.Conclusion: This study shows that “Student-led consultation under supervision in a consultant’s chair with discussion” is innovative in GP teaching. The demonstrated innovation embraces the concept of cognitive apprenticeship for improving learning outcomes. These teaching models incorporate students’ reflection in curriculum design and extend the definitions of “cognitive apprenticeship” and “transfer of learning” in modern clinical teaching to improve trainees’ placement learning. The identified enablers of and barriers to implementing these innovative teaching models will pave the way for future studies to confirm the practicality of implementing them in real-life clinical practice.Keywords: innovative training methods, general practice placement teaching, clinical thinking, clinical education, cognitive apprenticeship, action learning