University staff perspectives on determinants of high-quality health professions student placements in regional, rural and remote Australia: protocol for a mixed-method study

Claire Quilliam; Elyce Green; Rohan L Rasiah; Lyndal Sheepway; Catherine Seaton; Leigh Moore; Jodie Bailie; Kylie Maree Matthews; Jane Ferns; James Debenham; Carolyn Taylor; Kathryn Fitzgerald; Melissa Ridd

doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2023-077079

University staff perspectives on determinants of high-quality health professions student placements in regional, rural and remote Australia: protocol for a mixed-method study

BMJ Open. 2024 Mar 5;14(3):e077079. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2023-077079.

Authors

Claire Quilliam¹, Elyce Green², Rohan L Rasiah³, Lyndal Sheepway⁴, Catherine Seaton⁵, Leigh Moore⁶, Jodie Bailie^{7

8}, Kylie Maree Matthews⁹, Jane Ferns¹⁰, James Debenham⁹, Carolyn Taylor¹¹, Kathryn Fitzgerald¹², Melissa Ridd⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Rural Health, The University of Melbourne, Shepparton, Victoria, Australia claire.quilliam@unimelb.edu.au.
² Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia.
³ Western Australian Centre for Rural Health, The University of Western Australia, Karratha, Western Australia, Australia.
⁴ La Trobe Rural Health School, La Trobe University, Wodonga, Victoria, Australia.
⁵ Centre for Rural and Remote Health, James Cook University, Mount Isa, Queensland, Australia.
⁶ Flinders University Rural and Remote Health, Flinders University, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia.
⁷ University Centre for Rural Health, The University of Sydney, Lismore, New South Wales, Australia.
⁸ School of Public Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
⁹ Majarlin Kimberley Centre for Remote Health, The University of Notre Dame Australia, Broome, Western Australia, Australia.
¹⁰ Department of Rural Health, The University of Newcastle, Taree, New South Wales, Australia.
¹¹ La Trobe Rural Health School, La Trobe University, Bendigo, Victoria, Australia.
¹² Western Australian Centre for Rural Health, The University of Western Australia, Geraldton, Western Australia, Australia.

Abstract

Introduction: In rural areas, work-integrated learning in the form of health student placements has several potential benefits, including contributing to student learning, enhancing rural health service capacity and attracting future rural health workforce. Understanding what constitutes a high-quality rural placement experience is important for enhancing these outcomes. There is no current standardised definition of quality in the context of rural health placements, nor is there understanding of how this can be achieved across different rural contexts. This study is guided by one broad research question: what do university staff believe are the determinants of high-quality health professions student placements in regional, rural and remote Australia?

Methods and analysis: This study will adopt a convergent mixed-method design with two components. Component A will use explanatory sequential mixed methods. The first phase of component A will use a survey to explore determinants that contribute to the development of high-quality health student placements from the perspective of university staff who are not employed in University Departments of Rural Health and are involved in the delivery of health student education. The second phase will use semistructured interviews with the same stakeholder group (non-University Department of Rural Health university staff) to identify the determinants of high-quality health student placements. Component B will use a case study Employing COnceptUal schema for policy and Translation Engagement in Research mind mapping method to capture determinants that contribute to the development of high-quality health student placements from the perspective of University Department of Rural Health university staff.

Ethics and dissemination: The University of Melbourne Human Ethics Committee approved the study (2022-23201-33373-5). Following this, seven other Australian university human research ethics committees provided external approval to conduct the study. The results of the study will be presented in several peer-review publications and summary reports to key stakeholder groups.

Keywords: HEALTH SERVICES ADMINISTRATION & MANAGEMENT; Health Education; MEDICAL EDUCATION & TRAINING.

MeSH terms

Australia
Health Occupations
Humans
Research Design
Students, Health Occupations*
Universities