Through the Pinard is a podcast dedicated to exploring midwifery research.
In Episode 19, the wonderful Liz McNeil from Flinders University interviews me about my research on developing undergraduate midwifery students' social and emotional skills required for good teamwork. If you are interested in learning about interviewing, you would learn a lot from listening to Liz.
The development of health students teamwork skills is vital. Review after review and root cause analysis after root cause analysis, identifies poor teamwork, suboptimal communication and inadequate collaboration as core contributors to poor outcomes for health service users and bullying cultures.
We used a structured whole of program approach, with a specifically developed rubric for self and peer assessment, to the development of these skills through midwifery students' groupwork projects. The rubric functioned as a teaching and assessment tool.
Listen here to find out more Through the Pinard Listen to Episode 19. There are other fabulous podcasts there to enjoy as well.
Now I'm keen to promote the importance of this process of developing students' ability to be effective team members along with their discipline-specific skills to universities and encourage them to incorporate this learning into their curriculums.
What do you think of this approach to improving intra and inter professional relationships and ultimately safety in maternity care? Do you think it has application to other health professions?
A third year midwifery student posted this on Twitter after listening to the podcast:
Great listen
so many times I’ve shouted ‘yes!’ to this conversation
It can be difficult as a #studentmidwife to navigate team dynamics in clinical practice. Relationships are key - ‘It’s who you know and how you know them’ I look forward to hearing future outcomes
Here's my thesis if you are interested in exploring further:
