PP202 - Maximizing Impact: Training Clinical Educators in Interdisciplinary Settings

Abstract:
Clinical educators have called for academic programs to take a more proactive approach in supporting clinical education. Collaboration between Audiology program and other disciplines can enhance the quality of educational experiences. Participants were clinical educators from various fields, attending an interdisciplinary-oriented course on clinical precepting. Results from this study demonstrated a significant increase in participants’ perceived readiness in precepting students (p < 0.001). All participants plan to use at least one strategy in their future supervision. Current study showed that schools and colleges of health sciences could benefit from interdisciplinary teams creating standardized courses for clinical educators across different fields.

Summary:
Rational/Purpose
Self-directed ongoing professional development is a crucial lifelong duty for healthcare practitioners. Clinical educators have highlighted difficulties in supervising students and are calling for academic programs to take a more proactive approach in terms of communication, resources, and support. Collaboration between Audiology program and other healthcare disciplines can enhance the quality of educational experiences for student clinicians. Exploring clinical educators' views on a multidisciplinary continuing education course could provide valuable insights for different professions about the benefits of such training.

Methods
Participants were licensed healthcare professionals and clinical educators from various fields, including audiology, nursing, physical therapy, social work, clinical nutrition, and athletic training. Each participant attended at least one of the three available classes. At the conclusion of each class, an anonymous electronic evaluation form with questionnaires was provided to gather feedback. Effectiveness of the courses and its impact of interdisciplinary education were assessed with Wilcoxon Signed Rank tests, for paired comparison on questionnaires with likelihood scales, and descriptive statistics.

Results, Conclusions and Implications for Practice
Results from this study demonstrated a significant increase in participants’ perceived readiness in supervising students, after attending the workshop session (Z = -3.4608 , p < 0.001). All participants (100%, 28/28) plan to use at least one strategy learned in the course in their future supervision. In addition to the content, most of the participants reported that the multi-disciplinary nature of the course enhanced their learning experiences, provided valuable opportunities for collaboration and discussion, and are applicable and beneficial across disciplines (89.2%, 25/28, 85.7%, 24/28, and 100%, 28/28, respectively). Overall, almost all participants (92.8%) were satisfied with the interdisciplinary nature of the course.

The current study showed that schools and colleges of health sciences could benefit from interdisciplinary teams creating standardized courses for clinical educators across different fields, allowing for more frequent offerings to attract and train additional educators and preceptors. Furthermore, collaboration and learning improve when healthcare professionals from diverse disciplines participate in courses led by multidisciplinary teams.