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‘Making room for student autonomy’ – an ethnographic study of student participation in clinical work

Kjær, Louise Binow LU ; Strand, Pia LU and Christensen, Mette Krogh (2022) In Advances in Health Sciences Education 27(4). p.1067-1094
Abstract

Participation in clinical work is important for medical students’ professional development. However, students often report that they experience a passive observer role, and further research on contextual factors that influence student participation is needed. The theory of practice architectures contributes a new perspective to this challenge by elucidating how cultural-discursive, material-economic, and social-political arrangements enable and constrain student participation in clinical work. The aim of this study was to explore how practice architectures in clinical learning environments enable and constrain medical students’ participation. The study was designed as an ethnographic field study in three student clinics: 106 h of... (More)

Participation in clinical work is important for medical students’ professional development. However, students often report that they experience a passive observer role, and further research on contextual factors that influence student participation is needed. The theory of practice architectures contributes a new perspective to this challenge by elucidating how cultural-discursive, material-economic, and social-political arrangements enable and constrain student participation in clinical work. The aim of this study was to explore how practice architectures in clinical learning environments enable and constrain medical students’ participation. The study was designed as an ethnographic field study in three student clinics: 106 h of observation. Analysis comprised ethnographic analysis followed by application of the theory of practice architectures. The ethnographic analysis resulted in six themes: setting the scene, when to call for help, my room – my patient, getting in a routine, I know something you don’t, and my work is needed. Applying the theory of practice architectures showed that material-economic arrangements, such as control of the consultation room and essential artefacts, were crucial to student participation and position in the clinical workplace. Furthermore, co-production of a student mandate to independently perform certain parts of a consultation enabled a co-productive student position in the hierarchy of care-producers. The findings offer a conceptually generalisable model for the study of material and social dimensions of clinical learning environments. Although not all clinical learning environments may wish to or have the resources to implement a student clinic, the findings offer insights into general issues about the arrangements of student participation relevant to most clinical teaching contexts.

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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Clinical teaching, Focused ethnography, Medical education, Patient-centred, Practice architectures, Practice theory, Qualitative research, Student clinic, Student participation, Undergraduate
categories
Higher Education
in
Advances in Health Sciences Education
volume
27
issue
4
pages
28 pages
publisher
Springer
external identifiers
  • pmid:35896868
  • scopus:85140512665
ISSN
1382-4996
DOI
10.1007/s10459-022-10131-9
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
871f6b8d-f325-4779-a277-5b9859116576
date added to LUP
2022-12-14 12:56:33
date last changed
2024-04-14 10:22:58
@article{871f6b8d-f325-4779-a277-5b9859116576,
  abstract     = {{<p>Participation in clinical work is important for medical students’ professional development. However, students often report that they experience a passive observer role, and further research on contextual factors that influence student participation is needed. The theory of practice architectures contributes a new perspective to this challenge by elucidating how cultural-discursive, material-economic, and social-political arrangements enable and constrain student participation in clinical work. The aim of this study was to explore how practice architectures in clinical learning environments enable and constrain medical students’ participation. The study was designed as an ethnographic field study in three student clinics: 106 h of observation. Analysis comprised ethnographic analysis followed by application of the theory of practice architectures. The ethnographic analysis resulted in six themes: setting the scene, when to call for help, my room – my patient, getting in a routine, I know something you don’t, and my work is needed. Applying the theory of practice architectures showed that material-economic arrangements, such as control of the consultation room and essential artefacts, were crucial to student participation and position in the clinical workplace. Furthermore, co-production of a student mandate to independently perform certain parts of a consultation enabled a co-productive student position in the hierarchy of care-producers. The findings offer a conceptually generalisable model for the study of material and social dimensions of clinical learning environments. Although not all clinical learning environments may wish to or have the resources to implement a student clinic, the findings offer insights into general issues about the arrangements of student participation relevant to most clinical teaching contexts.</p>}},
  author       = {{Kjær, Louise Binow and Strand, Pia and Christensen, Mette Krogh}},
  issn         = {{1382-4996}},
  keywords     = {{Clinical teaching; Focused ethnography; Medical education; Patient-centred; Practice architectures; Practice theory; Qualitative research; Student clinic; Student participation; Undergraduate}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{4}},
  pages        = {{1067--1094}},
  publisher    = {{Springer}},
  series       = {{Advances in Health Sciences Education}},
  title        = {{‘Making room for student autonomy’ – an ethnographic study of student participation in clinical work}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10459-022-10131-9}},
  doi          = {{10.1007/s10459-022-10131-9}},
  volume       = {{27}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}