An illuminative evaluation of skills rehearsal in a mentorship course.

In response to national and local initiatives for health care education and the need to assure excellence in clinical placement learning and subsequent fitness for practice, one UK Higher Education Institution (HEI) developed an interprofessional mentorship course for health professionals. The aim of the course was to enable students to develop advanced knowledge and critical awareness of mentorship. The course integrated theory and practice through mentorship skills rehearsal as one of the teaching methods and is the key focus of this paper. Qualitative methodology was employed to evaluate the process of learning through the skills rehearsal component. The curriculum documentation was analysed and, one month after completing the course and in three focus groups participants described their experience of learning through simulation. A semi structured interview schedule was used. The findings revealed that all participants used unhelpful as well as constructive behaviours that potentially influenced the reliability of their support, supervision and assessment of learners. The participants' shift in belief that the role of the mentor was a fixed concept to a perspectival and value laden concept was evident. This new understanding illuminated the participants' problem solving strategies for understanding valid and reliable assessment.