I do hope you are all keeping well and doing the right things to keep healthy and safe. Charity begins at home!
Our team is working hard to improve the Journal and in the near future you will see many innovations. Meanwhile, we have three very interesting articles in this issue.
There is a real shortage of health professionals in our rural areas, with recruitment and retention being major challenges. Workforce shortages are experienced across all health professions, despite rural placements providing golden opportunities, including enhancement of clinical skills. The paper by Gallagher et al. describes the self-reported impact of implementing a framework of proper orientation, induction, and mentorship with targeted upskilling to support junior physiotherapists seconded to rural places. There are lessons to be learnt from this paper that could be applied to all health care professions.
Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are significant causes of morbidity and mortality in Australia. IBDs generate enormous financial burden to the individual and the health care system. Adherence to medication can help patients reduce disease-burden. Pharmacists are one of the most highly trusted health professionals, and patients often rely on them for their expert advice and counselling. Pharmacists may be the first port of call because they are accessible and available, but do they have the required knowledge in IBD management to provide the necessary support? The article by Prasad et al. looks at these issues in depth.
We train our health professional students to have in depth knowledge of their discipline. Commencing clinical practice often highlights gaps in specific knowledge and skills. Discharge planning is a skill that involves many complex issues related to patients and their specific individual contexts. Effective discharge planning requires interprofessional collaboration. In this volume we have an article from Martin et al. exploring the challenges of comprehensive discharge planning and suggests some possible solutions. Maybe we need to revise our curricula?
These articles give us the opportunity to reflect on and refine our current and future approach to health professional education.
1 For correspondence: Prof Kichu Nair, Director - Educational Research, Health Education & Training Institute (HETI), Locked Bag 2030, St Leonards NSW 1590, Australia.
Email: [email protected]
Health Education in Practice: Journal of Research for Professional Learning, vol 5, no 1, 2022