Fostering partnerships: Innovative bridges between didactic and clinical education through the use of guideline based mobile apps
Purpose: To present a model of app based clinical practice guideline implementation throughout the curriculum and into the clinic, and to explore the impact on learning, satisfaction, and sense of academic partnership as experienced by both Clinical Instructor (CI) and student.Methods and/or Description of Project: There is a need to develop a true partnership between the academic program and clinical sites in the promotion of student learning. According to CAPTE standard 4.0, academic programs must ensure that Clinical Instructors who supervise their students are effective models and clinical teachers. This is made difficult for CIs who supervise students from different institutions that use varying methods of pedagogy, with varying expectations of skills and competence. The recent development of clinical practice guidelines by the orthopaedic section can be a critical and foundational tool that bridges the educational experience into the clinic. Mobile learning apps based on the clinical practice guidelines provide a common language and knowledge base from which to engage student/CI discussion around clinical cases. In an effort to foster partnership and provide a common language and knowledge base between student and CI, a letter was distributed by email to 30 Clinical Instructors who were scheduled to receive DPT students during one of two full-time clinical experiences. The letter presented an option to participate in a pilot project with the DPT program. Those who volunteered were given codes to the full suite of clinical apps used by the DPT students during their academic courses. Prior to the student’s arrival, participating CIs agreed to engage in two webinars explaining the implementation of the orthopaedic clinical practice guidelines in the entry level curriculum, the integration of mobile apps, and how this could be applied to the clinical environment. Clinical Instructors agreed to complete a questionnaire before the student arrived, to integrate and discuss relevant content with the student under their supervision, and to complete a follow up questionnaire at the close of the clinical experience. Students were surveyed about the use of mobile apps in both the academic and clinical setting, and the perceived impact of having this common learning tool for clinical discussions with their CI.Results/Outcomes: Results from student and CI questionnaires will be presented, including strengths, weaknesses, benefits, and perceived difficulties with the use of this common tool across the didactic and clinical curriculum experience.Conclusions/Relevance to the conference theme: Our Leadership Landscape: Perspectives from the Ground Level to 30,000 Feet: A common digital learning tool can provide a bridge between the academic and the clinical settings. 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Japan Journal of Nursing Science, 15, 50-55.Course Objectives: 1. To provide a model of digital integration and guideline implementation as a bridge between the DPT curriculum, and the clinical experience. 2. To foster partnerships between academia and clinical sites, through use of a common learning tool, to establish a common language and knowledge base for integration of didactic knowledge into clinical experience.Instructional Methods: Panel presentations will include lecture, videos of apps in use, student and CI responses, and discussion.Tentative Outline/Schedule: 1. Introduction: The Millennial student in the digital generation 2. Perspectives of the CI: obstacles to true partnership in student learning 3. Development and use of apps in the curriculum 4. Response of students and CIs to the use of a common tool during the clinical experience 5. Implications for the academic program in building partnerships 6. Time for questions