To help others learn and develop was a concept that was introduced early into the course. The notion of teamwork was something that I have always felt comfortable with and believe it is important, this has also been reported with healthcare literature that being able to wok appropriately with others is essential for improved patient outcomes and safety (1,2), which enhanced my motivation to continue to support others’ learning and development throughout the course and my career as a physiotherapy and healthcare professional (3).

Early on during the course, supporting others’ learning and development (3) came in the fashion of a presentation on the physiology of pain. This was an topic that everyone on the course had little knowledge on, therefore we were split into groups to present a poster and presentation (See – Pain Presentation) to the rest of the cohort to educate them on the complexities of pain, demonstrating the domain: applying appropriate approaches to learning and teaching using different techniques (presentation) and materials (poster) to meet learners’ needs (4). I have continued to implement this domain throughout the course during BLS Teaching where I was assisting a classmate with the technique of chest compressions, applying appropriate approaches of learning and teaching  of different techniques (visual demonstrations and instructions) to meet the individuals learner needs (4), evidencing an ability to support others’ learning and development (3). I believe this domain is reinforced during the time I volunteered to take part in the first year VIVA’s by modelling (See – Viva Modelling) for them as a fake patient presenting respiratory symptoms, which highlights components of applying appropriate approaches to learning and teaching needs using different techniques and materials (replicating real-world patient scenarios’) (4), which I believe evidences this descriptor of the domain sufficiently.

During our first module of our course, we completed musculoskeletal physiotherapy, which involved learning extensively the musculoskeletal anatomy of the human body. We were split into small groups in order to learn together and teach each other around varying aspects of anatomy. I noticed that we were all more visual learners and believed we would learn better through diagrams and pictures, therefore I produced pictures of different body parts and joints each week, depending on what we were instructed to learn to help us understand more clearly (See – MSK Anatomy Notes). The use of this technique demonstrates an ability to evidence the domain: with guidance, plan and deliver learning activities to a specified range of individuals/groups (4). The supporting others’ learning and development (3) continued into our next module of neurophysiotherapy where we were tasked with  presenting a common neurological condition that physiotherapists are presented with to the rest of the cohort (See – Neuro Presentation) which evidences further an ability to plan and deliver learning activities to a specified range of individuals/groups with guidance of a given topic (4). Going forward, these are skills I can take forward, these may be used during future in-service training oppertunities that may present during my future career to help support others' learning and development and support the development of physiotherapy through the use of presentations, posters and images (3).

Throughout the course, it became very apparent that teamworking and supporting others through assisting, learning and teaching of practical skills was pivotal for success. However, we had the opportunity to assist with learning and teaching of written skills as well where we were given an assignment of one of our cohort to mark and give feedback on. This was a new concept for myself but this was something I wanted to get right, as a result of this I was able to give feedback to them (See – SE720: Peer Feedback), as to which infers that I was able to with guidance and predetermined criteria, I was able to assess a learner’s performance and progress and provide appropriate feedback (4). In addition to being able to being able to assist others learning and development, I have been able to proactively reflect and progress my own practice. During placement 3, I discussed with my educator two topics that we wanted me to achieve, which was clinical reasoning and evidence-based practice, which are fundamentals of good physiotherapy practice (5) and onwards referrals when appropriate. Sitting down with my educator allowed me to reflect on learning and teaching performance and using this evaluation to inform my own practice, and as a result I receive positive feedback that these elements were enhanced during my end of placement feedback compared to my mid-way (See – Placement 3: Feedback) which allowed me to reflect on this to inform my future practice within the areas of development and action plan for next placement section of end of placement paperwork (See Placement 3: Action Plan) (4). This will be something that I shall strive to do throughout my physiotherapy career in order to help myself, and the others I work with progress as clinicians which will may have a positive impact on physiotherapy practice as a whole.

Reference List

1. Council H and CP. Physiotherapists | The Standards of Proficiency For Physiotherapists [Internet]. 2013 [cited 2020 Mar 24]. Available from: https://www.hcpc-uk.org/standards/standards-of-proficiency/physiotherapists/
2. Babiker A, El Husseini M, Al Nemri A, Al Frayh A, Al Juryyan N, Faki MO, et al. Health care professional development: Working as a team to improve patient care. Sudan J Paediatr [Internet]. 2014 [cited 2020 May 24];14(2):9–16. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27493399
3. Charted Society of Physiotherapy. Chartered Society of Physiotherapy xx Professional Values of Members’ Code and Behaviour 2 Code of Members’ Professional Values and Behaviours [Internet]. 2019 [cited 2019 Apr 9]. Available from: https://www.csp.org.uk/system/files/csp_code_of_professional_values_behaviour_full.pdf
4. Physiotherapy CS of. Chartered Society of Physiotherapy Framework [Internet]. 2013 [cited 2020 Mar 23]. Available from: http://www.csp.org.uk/professional-union/careers-development/cpd/csp-eportfolio/my-eportfolio/cpd-
5. Ajjawi R. Learning to communicate clinical reasoning in physiotherapy practice [Internet]. 2006 [cited 2020 May 24]. Available from: http://www.wcpt.org/common/docs/WCPTPolicies.pdf;