Medical Student Preparation for Placements

Medical practitioners are traditionally trained "on the job" in clinical practice. That is they will traditionally follow a senior doctor around in a group in the hospital ward. Day two of the ANU Educational Research Conference at the Australian National University looked if this was still the best practice. Modern health practice emphasizes keeping patients out of the hospital, so much of what doctors need to know how to do is outside the hospital. Also complex skills might be better learned in a controlled environment. Workshops by teachers who have been specifically trained in a clinical practice (but are not doctors) are used. A similar approach is to be used in training lawyers.