Evaluation of post-simulation sonographer students' professional behaviour in the workplace

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Diagnostic Imaging
• Professional Development

Background:

• Traditionally, sonographer professional identity is acquired through clinical role models.
• A novel undergraduate-postgraduate course integrated professional identity education and simulated practice for novice sonographers.
• This approach aimed to prepare students for clinical practice by teaching professional behavior and humanistic attributes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To report on the transfer of learned professional behavior and humanistic attributes from simulated preclinical training to actual clinical practice for sonographer students.
• To evaluate the effectiveness of a structured preclinical curriculum in shaping sonographer professional identity.

Main Methods:

• 94 clinical assessors evaluated 174 students' professional behavior and attributes one month into their initial clinical practice.
• Quantitative analysis involved modeling binomial proportions with logistic regression to assess student performance.
• Simulated practice incorporated standardized patients, educator role-models, immediate feedback, self-reflection, and multi-observer assessment.

Main Results:

• Students demonstrated substantial learning transfer, achieving a mean score of 'consistent' professional behavior and humanistic attributes.
• The transferability of professional behaviors varied, with 'response to patient's questions' showing the least efficacy.
• Increased deliberate practice with educator role-models significantly improved the efficacy of skill transfer (P < 0.001).

Conclusions:

• Preclinical simulated practice effectively facilitated the transfer of sonographer professional behavior and attributes to clinical settings.
• The efficacy of this transfer is influenced by deliberate practice and feedback, with room for improvement.
• Integrating this educational approach into sonographer curricula is recommended for enhanced professional identity, clinical outcomes, and patient safety.