Abstract

Health science faculty striving to be academically competitive can adopt debriefing after simulation-based activities to help transition occupational therapy and physical therapy students from classroom skills to clinical competence. The purpose of this qualitative study was to discover the perceptions and experiences of health science faculty during and after their adoption of debriefing after simulation-based activities. The theory of diffusion and experiential learning theory were used as a conceptual framework. The research questions related to the perceptions and experiences of faculty from their training sessions and implementing debriefing sessions after simulation-based activities in their courses and how these experiences related to their adoption of debriefing. A university-wide e-mail was used to recruit participants. Twelve participants who met the selection criteria of current employee, received debriefing training, and utilized debriefing in their courses volunteered. Virtual interviews, memo notes, and reflexive journaling were collected, analyzed, and coded to identify themes. The faculty’s perceptions and experiences of learning were initially critical and skeptical; for trialing, faculty were nervous and awkward; for adopting and experimenting, faculty were curious to learn different techniques; and for overall perceptions, faculty felt debriefing was a valuable teaching style that increased student learning and performance. This study helps fill the gap and contributes to positive social change in health science academia by providing insights to innovative teaching strategies that promote improved clinical competence in health science students.

Comments

Poster presented to the Society for Simulation in Healthcare at the International Meeting for Simulation in Healthcare (IMSH), January 18–22, 2020, in San Diego, CA.

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