‘Mind the Gap: Rethinking perspectives on clinical placements’ event concludes the outstanding ‘Beyond Competence’ National project

This was the final local event of an externally funded education and development project, entitled ‘Beyond Competence’ . The project received £200k from the Higher Education Academy, ran between 2010 and 2012 and formed part of the National Teaching Fellowship Project Scheme. It was a collaboration between the Universities of Southampton and Leeds. Dr Faith Hill won the National Teaching Fellowship back in 2009, which enabled the team to apply for this scheme.

The National Teaching Fellowship Scheme recognises and rewards excellence in learning and teaching. It provides support for individual national teaching fellows, project teams, and the Association of National Teaching Fellows, which facilitates networking and promotes innovative practice. In addition to the external funding, the project also benefited from generous institutional contributions from both sites, which accounted for staff time, use of space, etc.

This collaborative project between Southampton and Leeds aimed to facilitate smooth transitions for students moving from university-based teaching to workplace learning. The particular focus was on healthcare education and the project examined the experiences of audiology, medicine and nursing students as they enter ever-changing healthcare environments. The project investigated how students make the transition from ‘student' to ‘trainee professional' - and from didactic, class-room teaching to increasingly independent learning.

The project responded directly to needs identified by students, higher education institutions (HEIs), the health service, professional bodies and in the literature concerning transitions into placement learning. Moreover, it took seriously the changing context of the NHS and HEIs in the period of public spending cuts. It explored the ways in which HEIs and placement providers can help students thrive in the workplace and made recommendations for future policy and practice. Finally, it worked with students to create resources for students, outlining and disseminating strategies for successful placement learning .

Dr Timm comments "Funding for national level projects for medical education research is extremely difficult to get…but here at Southampton we managed it! We will continue to feed our findings into the curriculum and are already using them in staff development and publications. We enjoyed working with colleagues from audiology and nursing and are grateful for their support for this project. We would also like to thank our project partners at Leeds, members of the project’s advisory group and of course, the Higher Education Academy, which is enabling us to run this free event. Ultimately, we want this piece of applied education research to make a difference to the student experience. We are proud to conclude it with this final local event, which, as indicated by the support in attendance, is again testament to the success of this project."