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Background: The issue of transition from student to practitioner of Chinese medicine (CM) in Australia and other Western countries has received little formal attention. Workforce studies, while not up to date nationally in Australia, suggest that the majority of CM practitioners practice as sole practitioners or in small practices. Data from the state of Victoria suggest that a significant proportion of the CM workforce is relatively new to the profession. It is not known how many graduates successfully enter the workforce and importantly, remain in it. Objectives: An initial survey of final-year bachelor degree CM students in Australian education institutions in 2008 suggested that students felt 'somewhat' prepared for clinical practice in eight dimensions of clinical practice. The authors conducted a follow-up study to this initial one, seeking to investigate perceptions of confidence in CM graduates in various aspects of clinical practice within the first year of completing their degree. Methods: A content-validated survey based on the previous study was distributed to a subset of 30 graduates from the original study cohort who had indicated a willingness to participate in this follow-up survey. Results: There were a small number of responses ( n=12), limiting the usefulness of the quantitative questions. However, some interesting qualitative outcomes from the long-answer part of the survey support findings from the previous study that recent practitioners would like more clinical experience, as well as support in developing their business and interpersonal skills, and the option to participate in a professional mentoring arrangement. Conclusions: Results of this study suggest that both education providers and professional associations may be able to play important and complementary roles in assisting CM students to successfully transition into the workforce. If CM is to continue to develop as a profession in Australia, it will be important that more attention be given to how to assist new graduates to successfully transition into and remain in clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Little is known about how prepared Chinese medicine (CM) students perceive themselves to enter the workforce. Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate perceptions of preparedness for clinical practice of final-year CM students in Australia. Design: The study design consisted of a written survey focusing on eight dimensions relating to practice: Interpersonal Skills, Confidence/Coping Skills, Professional Networks, Professional Practice Management, Professional Patient Management, Prevention, Holistic Care, and Self-Directed Learning. Part 1 of the survey required participants to choose from six possible responses on how well they believe their CM course has prepared them in relation to 41 statements about aspects of practice (1 = very inadequately through to 6 = very adequately). Part 2 consisted of nine open-ended questions. Study participants: The study participants were final-year Bachelor degree CM and acupuncture students from Australian universities and privately operated educational institutions. Analysis and main outcome measures: Part 1 of survey: mean scores on the eight dimensions of practice. Part 2 of survey: transcribed responses were imported into NVivo8. Each part of the questions was analyzed and grouped into broad themes. Results: Seventy-one (71) of one hundred and seven (71/107) invited students (average age 29.4 years ± 7.4 years) participated in the survey conducted in 2008. Mean scores on eight dimensions of clinical practice were as follows: Interpersonal Skills 3.9 (±1.1), Confidence/Coping Skills 4.0 (±0.8), Professional Networks 4.2 (±0.8), Professional Practice Management 4.2 (±0.8), Professional Patient Management 4.7 (±0.7), Prevention 4.6 (±0.7), Holistic Care 4.4 (±0.7), and Self-Directed Learning 4.6 (±0.6). There was no significant difference in mean scores across gender. Responses to Part 2 indicated a range of suggestions on the strengths of educational courses and how transition to clinical practice could be facilitated. Conclusions: In general, CM students perceived themselves to be “somewhat adequately” or “adequately” prepared for various aspects of clinical practice. Survey results may help inform CM educators about how to better prepare students for entry into the workforce. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]