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In this e-news we focus on Western students who are Assistants in Medicine (AiMs).
Pictured: AiMs welcomed by Bathurst MP
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COVID-19 was expected to impact clinical placements for medical students which presented the risk of a missing cohort of new doctors in 2021. Plus, there was a planned surge for the health workforce to meet the initial and predicted second wave of COVID-19 cases.
As a result the Ministry of Health created the Assistants in Medicine (AiM) roles. AiMs are final year medical students who are employed by NSW Health in hospitals. They work under supervision as part of clinical teams providing patient care in non-COVID facing wards. Together with their responsibilities as AiMs they also continue to achieve the academic requirements in order to graduate, attending education sessions during time that is quarantined for them out of the clinical areas.
Below is a snapshot of the program and early findings, drawn from the work of Prof Stephen Tobin, Dr Lise Mogensen and their teams.
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- It is the first implementation of such a program in Australia.
- Programs differ across Local Health Districts (LHDs), Hospitals and Universities. For example, contracts vary up to 32 hours per week, for up to 6 months.
- In all, there are 84 AiMs from Western Sydney University across five LHDs. Of those, 23 are students who were on placement at the Rural Clinical Schools in Bathurst and Lismore, like Elizabeth Skalkos (pictured in an article that appeared in the Western Advocate at the commencement of the AiMs program).
- Their contracts are predominately 32 hours per week for 6 months.
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Early evaluation results show the motivation of our students to become AiMs were:
- The opportunity to step up and be ready to work next year
- An assurance of adequate clinical experience during COVID-19
- Being paid
- Wanting to help out in the expected staff shortage
- Excitement of being among the first in a new role
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“I think AiM provides the opportunity for you to upskill very quickly, in terms of both communication and the general practical skills you'll need for next year.
I think it has been a great opportunity in that regard.”
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According to students, the key learning experiences in the AiM roles have been:
- Having a meaningful role with a sense of purpose
- A greatly increased sense of responsibility
- Feeling like an integral and trusted part of the team
- Engaging in the patient trajectory
- Having a sense of purpose and achievement that greatly stimulated learning
The School of Medicine is keeping track of AiM and student learning experiences using entrustable professional activities (EPAs), which are constructs around clinical work tasks. EPAs are providing evidence of the learning experiences, as well as progress across Year 5 of the AiMs and other students. A smartphone app is being used to record these work-based assessments and analysis confirms that valuable information is being captured.
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When the call went out for Assistants in Medicine (AiMs), an overwhelming majority of our final year students at the Rural Clinical Schools stepped up. From the Lismore cohort, students are employed in Lismore and Tweed Heads. The remainder are in Bathurst.
Fifth Year Medical students Charmaine D'Sousa and Matthew Bojanic were among these students. Hear about their experiences in these short interviews:
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We received this feedback from the RuralUP Tracker which made our day. We are so pleased to know our Plan B for "going rural" during the COVID-19 pandemic is offering a useful alternative experience until we can get you out and about again.
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RURAL UNDERGRADUATE PATHWAY
[RuralUP]
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In short, the Rural Undergraduate Pathway (RuralUP) is designed to allow students in the School of Medicine to explore opportunities in rural areas as an undergraduate. Through RuralUP, students gain an understanding of what it is like to work in rural areas and develop their peer and professional networks. If you would like to know more, see the RuralUP Flyer.
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