An educator's reflections on service learning as an approach to produce socially responsive medical imaging and therapeutic sciences graduates

Abstract

Introduction: Producing socially responsive graduates is a challenge within the undergraduate training of healthcare professionals. The role of the educator is to prepare the students for work in various community settings. An approach through which this can be done, is known as service learning (SL). SL allows students an opportunity to apply their newly gained knowledge to real-life projects. Aim: To reflect on how social responsiveness can be instilled within a South African medical imaging and therapeutic sciences curriculum. Method and discussion: The Gibbs' Reflective Cycle was utilised to draw on and describe the educator's experience as a facilitator of SL. A conceptual model was developed, depicting the different phases that the educator embarks on whilst facilitating a SL community project. The reflections presented in this paper is based on the educator's own experience. No primary data is presented. Conclusion and recommendations: As an educator and facilitator of SL, I have learnt that it is critical to adopt a hands-on approach whereby you have to step in and support/ motivate the students on a regular basis. Graduates can use this experience to improve their patient care practices within the clinical environment. The need to explore the students' perspectives on the conceptual model and their overall SL experience is deemed necessary to enhance the facilitation of future projects.