Transferring High Quality Care of the Elderly into the Clinical Workplace: Barriers and Facilitating Factors

Introduction: Medical students experience difficulty transferring what they have learned in the classroom into the clinical workplace. Learning environments based upon whole-task learning can help medical students to apply knowledge, skills and attitudes into their clinical practice. However, little is known about how students experience the transfer from such a whole-task learning environment into the workplace.

Aim: This study aims to identify the factors that students perceive to be facilitating and hindering the transfer of learning.

Methodology: Semi-structured interviews were conducted. The principle of data saturation was applied. The interviews were coded by two independent researchers and analysed using thematic analysis. The inductive coding process (both descriptive and interpretive) identified recurring themes.

Results: The barriers and facilitating factors that were identified as influencing the transfer of learning were linked to elements within the classroom (e.g. lack of practical protocols), the clinical workplace (e.g. supervisor not aware of what student learned in classroom) and students’ motivation (e.g. interest in the topic).

Conclusion: Despite the focus on whole-task learning environments, students did not find the application of knowledge, skills and attitudes in the clinical workplace easy. Future research needs to investigate how the perceived barriers can be avoided.