Legitimate workplace roles and activities for early learners

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Clinical Practice
• Workplace Learning

Background:

• Educators face challenges integrating pre-clerkship students into clinical practice.
• There's a need to define roles for early student engagement in healthcare settings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify student roles and activities enabling early engagement in clinical experiences.
• To determine clinic characteristics that facilitate legitimate participation for pre-clerkship students.

Main Methods:

• Semi-structured interviews with medical students and faculty at student-run clinics (SRCs).
• Inductive and iterative analysis of interview transcripts using workplace learning and communities of practice concepts.

Main Results:

• Pre-clerkship students performed direct patient care (triage, exams, education) and clinic management tasks.
• Students took ownership of patient care, with faculty as peripheral resources.
• Clinic features like defined scopes of practice and clear protocols supported student participation.

Conclusions:

• Pre-clerkship students can achieve significant legitimate participation in patient care.
• Student-run clinics demonstrate a model for transforming early clinical experiences with focused patient care activities.