Moving beyond solutionism: Re-imagining placements through an activity systems lens.

Abstract

Clinical placements are central to the process of preparing future health professionals for practice. Health care environments are increasingly complex and demanding with clinical placements often being perceived as a burden on busy health professionals giving rise to a service-education tension. This tension creates a situation ripe for simplistic solutionist approaches. For example, characterising the problem of clinical placements as students negatively impacting on service productivity results in a reductionist solution such as universities compensating health services for student education. Challenges faced by placement seekers and placement providers are multifaceted and complex requiring a more sophisticated understanding and response to the challenges of involving students in the workplace to prepare them for the future workforce.