Clinical Education
Mentoring Strategies for Facilitating Learning
Mentoring Strategies
- Observe other disciplines
- Attend/participate in case conferences
- Develop treatment plan with other disciplines to achieve treatment goals
- Student will develop a set of questions prior to treating patient
- Articulate multiple options for theoretical frameworks that support plan of care
- Expect that students ask for feedback rather than asking for information/answers
- In-depth interview of other practitioners involved with a patient to gain insight into their perspectives on the patient – is this same/different from your perspective?
- Have students shadow leaders in areas of interest to the student and journal about essential characteristics that made them leaders; have student compare their initial assumptions with information gained from shadow experience
- Shadow a patient (visit to MD, spend time with patient in their home, spend time with patient’s family)
- Peer review of a chart (are essential components included in documentation?)
- Student develops and defends multiple treatment approaches for same patient
- Student develops a plan of action to reach their goals in an area of interest (such as leadership) – include realistic timeframe and expectation
- Provide a structure that forces students to “think out loud”
- Have student compare/contrast how they treated patients with similar diagnoses during previous clinical experience or compare approach during first week of clinical compared to last week of clinical
- Have student read mission of your facility and reflect on how they would contribute to that mission as a student
- Have a student identify (from newpaper, professional association webpage, etc) current political/legislative issues and discuss their impact on profession/health care and discuss with mentor/staff
- Take student with you to local/national professional association activities; expect students to be involved on a committee or task force and/or to volunteer for the association in some way
- Attend patient support groups
- Identify advocacy needs of patients
- Involve students in facility accreditation activities/requirements
- Analyze effectiveness of group dynamics of group/team at facility (committee, care team, discharge planning team, task forces); what role did the student play in the group dynamic?
- Participate in or organize a journal club at facility; compile facility resource notebook with current literature of interest to site
- Team student with personnel from: marketing, billing, custodial, nursing assistant, medical records, etc
- When multiple students at facility, involve upper level students with beginning students (orientation, chart review, documentation critique, problem solving/treatment planning, practice techniques on each other, etc)
- Mentor student in role of clinical instructor
- Videotape inservice presented by student and have them self-assess.critique their presentation (teaching ability)
- Involve students in health promotion activites (health fairs, talk shows, company newsletter article)
- Chart review ideas: 1) comparing patients with similar diagnoses, but different plans of care; 2) comparing patients at different ages and with similar diagnoses; 3) comparing management of similar patients by different therapists; 4) give students only patient history and have them articulate examination approach
- Research equipment that clinic is contemplating for purchase
- Student may serve as technology resourse (setting up web page for facility or program)
- Track student productivity
- Track patient outcomes with a similar type of patient during entire clinical
- Develop a portfolio on a core value/ethical principle “of the week”.
Model Questions
- What will your learning/insights lead you to do differently?
- What influences do your emotions have on the patient? On your decision making?
- Describe a decision you made today – how did you make the decision? Describe your reasoning.
- What influence might culture have on this relationship/situation?
- What impact would your assumptions have on this situation?
- Did you ask the patient all the necessary questions and how would you determine this?
- What did you do today that made you feel like a PT/PTA/COTA/SLP/OT?
Developed by Mary Weddle, PT, DSc and Joanne Wipple, PT, 20061 of 2