Student preparedness for Work Integrated Learning (WIL) in Biomedical Technology

Submitted in fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Health Science in Medical Laboratory Science in the Department of Biomedical and Clinical Technology at the Durban University of Technology, 2020. ; According to the Council of Higher Education (CHE), work integrated learning (WIL) is one of the key tools for developing graduate attributes for the world of work (Council on Higher Education, 2011). Biomedical Technology is a highly skilled profession with no room for error since diagnosis and treatment of patients’ conditions depend primarily on accurate results. Students enrolled for the National Diploma Biomedical Technology at the Durban University of Technology (DUT) spend two and a half years at the University of Technology (UoT) acquiring formal instruction and a compulsory six month period of WIL at Health Professional Council of South Africa (HPCSA) accredited training laboratories in order to develop into graduates who are work-ready and familiar with organizational practice. Despite the established benefits of WIL, there is no data which ascertains whether the strategies employed by the Biomedical Technology programme for preparing students for undertaking WIL are actually successful. Nor has there been structured reflection to establish the partnership between the department and the training sites and its effectiveness for WIL. In addition, it would be important to ascertain whether the conditions of the workplace are conducive for WIL. This information would therefore be extremely valuable in informing whether the outcomes for WIL have been optimally achieved and would further influence curriculum review development and delivery. The purpose of the study therefore, was to determine the degree of work preparedness of students’ exposure and experience for WIL through a descriptive analysis of the perceptions of students regarding WIL. In addition, the perceptions of laboratory supervisors on students’ preparedness for training at these HPCSA accredited laboratories, as well as the ...