LM104 - AuD Preparation and the Soft-Skills Pandemic: Overcoming Barriers (Part 2 of 2)

Abstract:
This presentation follows Part I, which identifies pertinent SKs and their importance in self-directed learning and interpersonal skills crucial for professional success. There is growing concern that the pandemic-imposed limitations in soft skills (SKs) development (e.g., communication, professionalism, critical thinking, self-awareness) impact high-level knowledge acquisition, the ability to interact with other professionals, and patient care. We will identify barriers to self-directed learning and full engagement in the clinical experiences based on SK limitations, and facilitate the development of SK strategies to strengthen the externship experience and workforce readiness.  Audience engagement and participation will be facilitated through polling, scenarios, and Q&A. The audiology externship is key to the development of independent practice skills and workforce readiness. AuD programs, clinical sites, preceptors, and students have partnered throughout the years to enhance and evolve this final year of study. Yet, 20 years later, we have unanticipated challenges associated with changes in teaching strategies and styles of pre-AuD education that occurred during the pandemic.
The most recent cohorts of externs have entered the year-long experience having relatively uninterrupted clinical rotations as compared to those who completed practicums/externships during the COVID years. The expectation for preceptors was that clinical preparation would return to pre-COVID times. Yet, both preceptors and academic course instructors note that more students than previously are missing “soft skills” (SKs) crucial to graduate preparation, pre-employment, and career needs.

These include critical thinking, problem-solving, self-awareness, communication skills, and other attributes. Some of the lapses in SKs during graduate school may map to limitations in undergraduate education during the pandemic that included increased absenteeism, decreased engagement with instructors and other students, mental-health concerns, modified course and examination requirements, and other variables. These SK challenges interplay not only care of the patient and family but also in expectations, communications, learning strategies, and teamwork with preceptors and other clinical staff. Further complicating the learning environment, we currently have a multigenerational workforce that incorporates different learning styles, work and communication preferences, technical knowledge, etc. How do we integrate limitations in SKs of upcoming professionals, determine effective teaching strategies to fill in the gaps, and integrate these with the learning, teaching, and communication styles of preceptors and workforce colleagues?

Shahrvini et al.(2021) reported medical students felt disconnected from their program and peers, which left them unprepared for clerkships, feeling insecure, and in poor preparation for clinical work. A post-COVID-19 review by the 2010 Lancet Commission identified evolving institutional and instructional reforms in the education of healthcare workers and how these interplay with the current needs and alterations in health professional education resulting from the pandemic (Frenk, J. et al., 2022).
In their review, they identified the need to divide competencies into 3 groups: foundational, specialized, and integrative in addition to the development of meta-competence in preparation for future innovations. An understanding of these competencies and associated gaps will lead preceptors and educators to identify the most appropriate technology, learning styles, teaching strategies, and preceptor skills to best address the SK gaps present throughout graduate education, the externship year, and preparation for the workforce.

The session will start with a brief review of limitations in pertinent soft skill sets (e.g., study skills, differences in motivation, self-awareness, responsibility, follow-through, coping skills, and professionalism) followed by mechanisms to facilitate the development of these skills. The implications of deploying these techniques among different generations of preceptors and work colleagues will be discussed. Audience engagement and participation will be facilitated through polling, scenarios, and a Q&A session. This session is intended to supplement another submitted session by the same presenters (AuD Preparation and The Soft-Skills Pandemic – Part I).