Introduction:

An IICMS Education Sub Committee has been established with Ann Coughlan as the chairperson. The aim of this education sub committee is to develop practices for continued professional development for those students currently undergoing or who are recent graduates of the Bsc. in Clinical Measurement in DIT, Kevin Street.

The IICMS Education Sub Committee consists of the following members:

• Ann Coughlan (Chair), Geraldine Boylan (Neurophysiology)
   

• Lynette O Sullivan, Paul Nolan (Cardiac)
   

• Judi O Malley (Vascular)
   

• Michèle Agnew (Respiratory)
   

• Trish Lawlor (GI Function)  

As with many of the disciplines students who completed the Technician Certificate in Medical Physics and Clinical Measurement Science would then also have undergone professional examinations examined by a professional body e.g ECNE in Neuro; ASCT in Cardiac; ARTP in Respiratory etc.

Many of these professional examinations are now unavailable to us. They have been merged into the UK BSc in Clinical Physiology. They were in general run through professional bodies within in the UK; for example in terms of the Neurophysiology, the ECNE examinations was undertaken by the students after completing two full working years within a student post. The syllabus was followed by the student in their own time and under the supervision of a Chief Technologist. The student would then be required to sit both a written MCQ paper and practical examination either within their own department or in the UK. The successful applicant would be award a ECNE board qualification This qualification was an internationally recognised qualification in Neurophysiology. The fact that these sorts of awards are no longer open to us raised some serious concerns. Both those working in Cardiac and Respiratory are experiencing a similar problem to Neuro.

Those working in Neuro had already started working on this problem. Hence the IICMS are using Neuro as a “pilot” group with the aim of instituting an outline a of “post graduate diploma” which the graduate can complete over the first 12-18 months after graduation in an approved training centre.

The current BSc course is now under academic review. Many of the teaching labs have been accepting both 3rd and 4th students on clinical placement since 2004. This has been a learning experience for everyone.

Finding placements for students has been an ongoing issue. Also a clinical placement of 8 weeks in 3rd year in three of the discipline followed by a further 12 weeks in a single discipline in 4th year has been insufficient for the students to be eligible to sit professional competency qualification exams in any of the disciplines. Cardiology is the exception with some students taking the ASCT part 1 examination.

Academic review of the course offers us the opportunity to change the current course for the better & the Committee has made a number of recommendations to DIT. 

These include:

• A full syllabus review, in particular the anatomy, physiology and biochemistry modules in year 2. Students on 3rd year placements have been found to have insufficient underpinning knowledge to make the most of the placement. This is a major issue in Vascular and Neurophysiology, but the syllabus review will encompass all of the disciplines.
   

• Increase clinical placement period in year 4 to approx 12 months in one discipline.
   

• The lectures for 3 disciplines taken in 4th year plus the instrumentation and other required modules would be delivered in a “bloc release” format over periods of approx 2-3 weeks each. The students would be released from placements to attend these blocs in DIT.
   

• 
  The Education committee sees the benefit of the above changes as follows:
  
  Review and amendments to the core syllabus particularly in the 2nd year will better prepare students for their clinical placements.
   

Increase of clinical placement in the 4th year to 12 months in a single discipline mean students will be properly prepared and gained sufficient experience to attempt professional competency examinations; they could therefore graduate with the BSc and professional exams. This would make graduates a more attractive employment option and also broadens the accreditation options for the course particularly for graduates who may seek future employment within the UK.
 

Offering the specialist module lectures during the 4th year in “bloc release” format creates a planned structure on the 4th year of the course. Clinical practitioners involved in delivering the specialist material at these blocs will know 12 months in advance the dates for the module. This ensures lecture rooms can be pre-booked and handout material prepared and printed in advance. The DIT clinical tutor could make a significant contribution.

• As the 4th year students will be spending 12 months in one lab during their clinical placement they will become an integrated part of the lab and be of significant practical experience. Students could create their clinical portfolio’s in preparation for professional exams during this time. Overall these changes should make accepting students into a training lab a more attractive option than that pertaining at present. 12 month clinical placements would open the possibility of involving interested training labs throughout the country and not just mainly the Dublin Hospitals. If the student knows they are going to be placed in Galway or Cork for a full year they can seek accommodation in the area in advance of the placement.
   

• To ensure all students get gold standard training it is important that numbers in the course are limited to approx 20 students.
   

Clinical Tutors:

Clinical Tutors have now been in place for the past 12 months in Neurophysiology, Respiratory and Cardiac.

The Clinical Tutors are Maresa Mc Gee for Neurophysiology; Maria McNeill for Respiratory, Sharon Donoghue for Cardiac, and Tina Hillard for Vascular.

The clinical tutors have had a very successful but busy year. Feedback from the tutors stated that although they found the past year challenging they are happy with their progress. They felt a lot of their time was taken up with working on the training manual while trying to juggle the two required clinical placement visits with the necessary tutorials. They were actively involved in the syllabus review for the BSc Clinical Measurement. They were heavily involved with the 3rd year students.

Their hope for next year is with the training manuals completed they will be more able to focus on lectures, tutorials and site visits.

If you have any questions or would like to become involved in the development of education in our profession you can contact the Education Committee at E-mail: