Important Characteristics of the Clinical Instructors in Radiology - Research Paper Example

Important Characteristics of the Clinical Instructors in Radiology Abstract The paper critically explores the article on effective radiography on clinical instructor characteristics. The paper creates an understanding of the author’s arguments taking into consideration to the value and the significance it has to the reader. It offers a succinct criticism of the article in question, providing the possible intentions of the author. The paper provides information concerning the impact of clinical instructor characteristics on radiography studies. Introduction The article by Jennet M Ingrassia is about the impact that clinical instructors characteristics have towards students in the radiography field. According to the author there had been little research conducted on the characteristics and behavior of clinical instructors directly related to the radiography field. There have been numerous studies, carried out to examine the characteristics of clinical instructors in nursing and related health programs. These studies have much information that relates to radiography. In general, the article is about behavioral characteristics that clinical instructors should adopt in radiography and which characteristics they should designate (Ingrassia, 2011). The journal targets clinical instructors to enable them improve their behavioral characteristics for better clinical experiences. Although the journal mostly focuses on the behavioral characteristics of clinical instructors, there are numerous challenges encountered in the clinical education. One of the problems is that each student may not be able to spend enough time with the clinical supervisor. Other problems are that students are sometimes anxious. This may originate from various causes one of them being that there may not be enough patients for students to gain experience. The importance of identifying these problems is in order not to be restricted into thinking that the clinical instructor solely bears the responsibility of student learning experience. The challenges, however, are minor with the clinical instructor playing the leading role in students learning experience. According to Jennett, clinical instructors have a significant effect on the success or failure of student in the clinic. The instructors supervise, advice, coach and facilitate students in solving problems, decision-making and critical thinking. They also have the responsibility of providing a learning environment conducive to their students (Ingrassia, 2011). For clinical instructors to be effective they should exhibit certain characteristic and credentials, the author states communication as one of the things that play a crucial role in effective teaching in the clinical arena. The author proves this by a study conducted by Alweshani et al that involved students in Canadian medical school. The study found out that students identified communication as the most fundamental characteristic of clinical instructors. According to the students, clinical instructors with straightforward language communication skills were of more value than those who spoke their native language. The author states professional role models and mentorship as other noteworthy characteristics that clinical instructors should possess. They should also encourage interpersonal communication and independence. To put emphasis on how significant, positive clinical experiences are the author brings on board a study conducted by Belinsky and Tataronis, who studied clinical instructors in radiation therapy. From the study, clinical instructors who had positive clinical education experiences had positive altitude to clinical education. After having proved the fact that the experiences of clinical instructors as students has effect on their altitude towards clinical education, there is no doubt that clinical instructors are almost the only ones responsible for student feeling of being successful or otherwise. Prove to this is tang et al study that emphasized that the clinical instructor is almost the only one responsible for students feeling. Both students and clinical instructors experience stress. The study showed that clinical instructors experience stress as instructors face overwhelming responsibilities (Ingrassia, 2011). Clinical instructors have the responsibility of monitoring and supervising students. They are responsible for providing educational opportunities as well as ensuring that the patients involved are safe. These responsibilities may cause anxiety and stress to instructors. The clinical instructor may then face burnout because of anxiety and stress, which would end up to them having a negative altitude. Student stress according to Cullen may cause stress to the clinical instructor and; therefore, there should be measures to break the cycle. Cullen suggestion is that students should have time to interact with their instructor prior to the commencement of the clinical rotation. It is of utter importance that students in allied health science to receive excellent clinical instruction. Therefore, those involved in clinical education should identify and advocate for the qualities, characteristics, behaviors and actions that would contribute to success of students. Many studies carried out on program directors clinical instructors and students have narrowed down to three fundamental characteristics of effective clinical education. The first characteristic is that the clinical instructors must possess adequate knowledge and skill. They should also be improving these skills on a regular basis. The author proves this by an example from the study by Laitinen-Vaanaen and Luukka 2007, which aimed at discovering how clinical instructors and students interact so that students would enter the clinical field having acquired the essential skills. The result of the study was that students were reluctant to take up the opportunity and would instead leave it to their instructor. In concluding, the study stated that maybe the students were not at the level of competency needed at the time and the instructors had not promoted critical thinking while treating patients. The study also concluded that the dominance of instructors and their lack of encouragement for students to participate dispirited the students learning process (Teresa et al., 2012). The other characteristic is that clinical instructors must be easy to get to and available for consultation. A prove to this is the study conducted by viverias-dressler and kutschke which involved nursing students. The study found out that being approachable had high rating as the most salient characteristic. Apart from being available, students are fond of instructors who they would feel comfortable to consult. A student will not go to a clinical instructor who belittle and correct her or him in public. The clinical instructor should also encourage and offer support to students, which is one of the ways in which students and clinical instructors are able to build a strong relationship. The third characteristic is that the instructor must be respectable to students. The study conducted by Tang et al on nursing students, according to the author, proves to this. The study concluded that the manner in which instructors treat their students were the main contributor to their effectiveness in instructing. According to tang et al, the instructor should be more respectable to the student, which is more effective than having the required knowledge or having the essential skills (Laitinen-Väänänen & Luukka, 2007). A study conducted by Gignac-Caille and Oermann had similar results as that by tang et al although the one by tang et al was more specific. The provision of feedback is yet another crucial behavior of the clinical instructor. Feedback builds the confidence levels of students and helps the student know which areas to improve. The delivery of feedback should be in a desirable manner so as not to have a negative effect on the students learning process. Fairness in grading is yet another noteworthy characteristic of clinical instructors. A prove to this is the study done by Viverais-Dresler and Kutschke where students in nursing rated fairness as the most notable characteristic of clinical instructors. The other characteristic of clinical instructors of importance as viewed by students is the ability of instructors to recognize and admit their limitations. They should be able to admit and correct their mistakes and know where their strength and weakness lie. The clinical instructor should also be in a position to relate well the theory taught and the actual practice and vice verse. This becomes a paramount concern to staff technologists who often do not reinforce what they teach in the classroom. The evidence provided by the author, from studies, is compelling enough to prove the fact that the characteristics of clinical instructors play an import role in the clinical experiences of their students. Besides the characteristics discussed earlier, other factors, for example, generational differences come into play. A prove to this is from a study conducted by Giberson et al. the study came up with the concept that the behavior of clinical instructors may vary because of generational differences (Teresa et al., 2012). As a mentor, the clinical instructor plays a crucial role, as the student is always keen on what the instructor says, does, and always tries to follow these. According to Cullen, there are three roles that the clinical instructor plays this are being a teacher, enhancer and caretaker. The clinical instructor as a mentor -teacher repeats what the student requires to know. As an enhancer, the clinical instructor has the responsibility of ensuring that the student knows what lies ahead. The instructor can lead by example by belonging and being active in professional societies. The instructors may, by doing this, help students have more enthusiasm towards the profession and help students identify whatever opportunities available. The most important of the three roles the clinical instructor play is perhaps that of being a caretaker. In the characteristic the instructor should take the student on a more personal level, for this to work, the clinical instructor must possess strong interpersonal skills and, therefore, clinical instructors must acquire training to obtain these skills. Further emphasis on the importance of characteristics of the clinical instructor comes up in a study performed on radiography students who attended a certain west coast seminar. In the study, students were to identify the factors that caused stress in the clinical education. Students also had to identify the qualities, which they were comfortable with in terms of the clinical instructor. Though limited in the sample, as it only involved students attending the seminar, the findings were similar to those of previous studies (Teresa et al., 2012). In the study, students identified various causes that result in stress many of this sources related to the ones found in the research. In general, the research found that both the students and the clinical instructor have a role to play towards effective education in the clinical field. The clinical instructors should not be intimidating students, should engage them in more feedback, be available for consultations and should give students more opportunities to make errors and so that they may learn from them without negative criticism. The study on radiography students who attended the west coast seminar was, therefore, a reasonable basis to base the study. After having emphasized on the importance of the characteristics of clinical instructor, a survey involving students and clinical instructors took place in order to identify the effective characteristics of clinical instructors. The study focused on the behavioral characteristics of clinical instructors perceived to be most beneficial to students and clinical instructors in radiography (Laitinen-Väänänen & Luukka, 2008). The study also was to identify whether there were differences in perceptions between students and clinical instructors. In the study, clinical instructors and students in radiography were to rank the importance of behavioral characteristics of clinical instructors. The characteristics that the students and clinical instructors were to rank in the survey were the most notable from previous studies. The characteristics formed four categories, which were, competence, evaluation skills, interpersonal relationships and teaching ability. The study proved that the most fundamental characteristics were similar to those of previous studies. Being skillful explaining concepts clearly, demonstrating objectivity, and being fair when evaluating students were the most fundamental characteristics (Laitinen-Väänänen & Luukka, 2007). References Rabeya Yousuf, et al. (2011). "Bedside Teaching In Undergraduate Medical Education: Issues, Strategies, And New Models For Better Preparation Of New Generation Doctors." Iranian Journal Of Medical Sciences 36 (1), 1-6. Teresa, G. Odle, et al. (2012). "Best Practices In Digital Radiography." Radiologic Technology 84 (1), 83-89. Ingrassia, J. M. (2011)."Effective Radiography Clinical Instructor Characteristics." Radiologic Technology 82 (5), 409-420. Laitinen-Väänänen, S., Talvitie, U., & Luukka, M. (2007). Clinical supervision as an interaction between the clinical educator and the student. Physiotherapy Theory & Practice, 23(2), 95-103. Laitinen-Väänänen, S., Luukka, M., & Talvitie, U. (2008). Physiotherapy under discussion: a discourse analytic study of physiotherapy students' clinical education. Advances In Physiotherapy, 10(1), 2-8. Read More