Students' views of teachers using the Clinical Teaching Effectiveness Inventory

The move from the apprenticeship model of vocational training into the tertiary education sector has necessitated changes in clinical teaching practice for the paramedic discipline. Paramedic clinical in-field teachers now have students who are academically more qualified but have less clinical exposure than they did in the past.

The importance of clinical teaching in the paramedic discipline cannot be underestimated. Clinical teachers (often also referred to as clinical instructors) are required to facilitate the synthesis of propositional knowledge into an epistemology of practice for the authentic clinical workplace (Choi and Hannafin, 1995). This is achieved by exposing graduates to patients, demonstrating clinical practice; observing learners as they emulate and practice; assessing progress; providing feedback to improve performance; and being role models (Hays, 2012).

Paramedic education in Australia has experienced significant changes over the past decade. The transition from post-employment vocational programs, where paramedic training was essentially conducted in the field and interspersed with periods of schooling, to the pre-employment training model, where training is based in tertiary institutions and interspersed with minimal clinical practice (Waxman and Williams, 2006), has led to a reduction in the opportunities for clinical practice by paramedic students prior to graduating. This relatively new training model has resulted in graduates entering the paramedic workforce with a significant theory-practice gap. Willis (2009) reports that students graduate from universities with sufficient knowledge, but require extensive experience and assistance to transfer what they have learned into practice. Edwards (2011) has argued that the pre-employment model has exacerbated the theory practice gap, making it more challenging for clinical teachers and mentors to contextualise and bridge this gap for the new graduates.