The development and evaluation of a fieldwork educator's training programme for allied health professionals

This paper describes the development, implementation and evaluation of a multi-professional fieldwork educator's course. The study explored the current provision of such training available to a range of healthcare professionals within the Greater Manchester West Consortium boundaries and the extent to which the core skills needed could be provided within a multi-professional programme. The methods used included surveys, focus groups, rating scales completed by participants immediately following the pilot course, a focus group of participants after three months of the course and a nominal group six months after completion. This study demonstrates that the skills needed by a fieldwork educator can be taught in a multi-professional programme, allowing the practitioner to assimilate her/his skills into her/his own working environment, and outlines issues to be taken into consideration when designing such courses.