From the editor – 2025 in review

Prof Kichu Nair1

Editor-in-chair

As 2025 draws to a close, I am proud to reflect on the achievements of the journal this year. We are grateful to all the authors and reviewers for their invaluable contributions. Vol. 8 traversed a range of rich topics - from Australian educational programs for health professionals to research on impactful learning tools and interprofessional collaboration to organisational learning enablers. We learned a lot from this edition, and we hope you have as well!

Fortunately, Australia has several education programs for health professionals which have had promising results. The New South Wales government introduced the Assistant in Medicine (AIM) program in 2020, with the aim of offering the opportunity for final-year medical students across the state to undertake part- or full-time employment at an inpatient facility. Timely research from de Carle et al demonstrated how alumni of the program from the Universities of Newcastle and New England felt more prepared for general ward work, while Mitchell et al showed how the program allowed doctors to see more patients during their shift and focus on higher-level tasks.

The research from David Shmidt and Kerith Duncanson discussed NSW Health’s rural research capacity building program (RRCBP), a training program offered to rural health workers to learn more about research since 2015. The authors concluded that the RRCBP’s curriculum not only provides structure but also allows flexibility in how they teach and how their learners learn. In the next article, Finch and colleagues examined the positive impact of a research capability building initiative for health professionals in Queensland.

Moving from educational programs to learning tools, virtual reality (VR) training has emerged as a promising training instrument that offers realism and interactivity to enhance both the technical and non-technical skills essential for healthcare professionals. Purse and colleagues demonstrated that VR can be used to prepare paramedics for mass casualty incidents. Similarly, Kluge et al ’s research reflected positive results of VR-delivered stress-management and de-escalation training for mental health nurses.

Feedback is a major tool for learning. However, feedback culture needs to improve in the learning landscape, especially when emotional triggers can affect feedback reception. Oomens and colleagues’ study showed how emotion in the learning landscape and feedback in the sonography workplace can influence the accurate acquisition of advanced sonography practices.

The topic of interprofessional work gained momentum in the last decade, because of its importance for better health outcomes. Zugna and colleagues and Heidegger and colleagues highlighted the positive outcomes of interprofessional education programs targeting medical and nursing students and staff. Andrews and colleagues demonstrated the effectiveness of simulation-based learning in enhancing interprofessional collaboration and communication, and overall learning of healthcare and emergency services. Similarly, Beatty et al ’s work revealed the impact of guest healthcare experts on the understanding of collaboration of junior and senior students enrolled in health-related majors in the US. Saad et al reinforced the importance of interprofessional work in their reflection on the inclusion of communication skills in the professional competency standards of health professions in Australia and New Zealand.

Finally, the scoping review from Debra Palesy and Margaret Crowley shed insight on enablers in current Organisational Learning models, frameworks and approaches in a healthcare context.

Our team and the Editorial Board have worked hard to take the journal to new heights. We maintain our commitment to disseminate quality evidence that can enhance the education and training of the health workforce. We have had a very busy but rewarding year! We hope to continue collaborating with healthcare professionals, researchers and the community, so we can keep contributing to the scholarship of health profession education teaching and learning.

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]