The Role of Pedagogy in Clinical Education

This chapter introduces the role of pedagogy in the tuition of clinical subjects. After which an overview of the two types of pedagogy that underpin it are explained. Research on the role and function of pedagogy in clinical subjects is in its infancy; as such, different examples of approaches are presented. Specifically, I look at public health, Widening Participation and Public and Patient Involvement (PPI). The chapter will highlight that there is a need for more academic work that investigates the role pedagogy plays in clinical subjects. In short, despite that fact that there is a pressing need in most Western countries to train clinical staff, there is an unfortunate lack of pragmatic texts in all areas of clinical education. By highlighting what publications exist, I hope to instigate discussions about the type of publication and style of approaches that are required for the study of medical pedagogies. Because of the variety of stakeholders involved in medical education, not all will uniformly accept new approaches to pedagogy, causing possible tensions. This chapter covers pedagogies relevant to allied healthcare education. Its content may be of interest to tutors who want to know more about clinical pedagogy and curriculum design.