Health information management students' work-integrated learning (professional practice placements): Where do they go and what do they do?

Abstract

Background: Work-integrated learning (WIL) is integral to most health disciplines' profession-qualifying degree programs. Objectives: To analyse the categories, locales and foci of final-year (capstone), health information management professional practice (WIL) placements, 2012-2021, at La Trobe University, Australia. Method: A documentary analysis of 614 placement agency proposals, 2012-2021, interrogated multiple characteristics: agency type, placement (sub-) category (WIL model), project type, agency-required student capabilities, intended learning outcomes. Results: Public hospitals offered 50% of all placements. Medical research/health or disease screening/clinical registries offered 17.8%, incorporating 86.7% of "research-based" placements. Government department offerings were consistently stable; private hospital, primary care and community healthcare offerings declined. The majority (64.8%) of offerings were "project-based," followed by "internship" (28.7%: Health Information Service (14%) and "other" (14.7%)), research-based (4.9%) and other (1.6%). Ninety-nine (16.1%) proposals specified additional, pre-placement skills and capabilities: technical (information technologies, software applications; 58.6% of 99 proposals); working independently (49.5%); communications (written, verbal; 45.5%); targeted interest (38.4%) in "informatics and data quality," "quality and safety," "software development," "coding"; organisational and/or time management skills (29.9%); teamwork skills (20.2%); data analysis skills (18.2%); enthusiasm and/or self-motivation (15.2%). Conclusion: The project-based model for the capstone placement is ideal for preparing health information management students for complex, graduate professional work. Agencies' pre-placement expectations of students (knowledge, technical skills, soft skills) are consistent with findings from the WIL literature and align with course curricula and Australia's Health Information Manager (HIM) Profession-entry Competency Standards. Implications: The findings will strengthen the health information management profession's knowledge base of WIL and inform educators, students and agency supervisors.