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  1. Researchers
  2. Research Strengths
  3. Faculty research profiles
  4. Faculty of Health Sciences & Medicine
  5. Health Professions Education

The Health Professions Education Research Group comprises Faculty members and students interested in the scholarship of learning and teaching in the various health professions.

The goals for the HPE Research Group are to:

•    Co-ordinate health professions education research activities within the Faculty

•    Develop an ethos of health professions research within the Faculty

•    Establish focus areas in research in terms of the current and future trends in health professions education

•    Provide staff development to promote health professions education research through workshops, journal clubs and discussion fora

•    Provide guidance and resources for those interested in health professions education research

•    Promote health professions education research within the region, nationally and internationally by establishing networks of collaborators

•    Promote and facilitate learning and teaching scholarship by publishing research in peer-reviewed journals and presenting at local, national and international conferences

•    Communicate results of research activities to decision-makers

•    Secure funding for health professions research activities

•    Involve students in the activities of the Research Group

The mission of the Health Professions Education Research Group is to act as a co-ordinating body within the Faculty of Health Sciences & Medicine, Bond University, for individuals or groups interested in health professions education in order to promote scholarly activities in learning and teaching locally, regionally, nationally and internationally.

Research areas and recent publications

With the Health Sciences and Medicine Faculty offering a range of health professional degrees, there are a number of research streams, many involving cross-disciplinary collaboration.

Research in this broad area includes, for example,  the maintenance of competence, non-technical skills required for practising medicine, professional identity and student well-being. One area of funded research relates to what works best in post-graduate medical education in General Practice. 

Contributors and Researchers

Recent publications

Funded research project

Associate Jane Smith (Academic Lead) has been awarded an RACGP Medical Education Research Grant: Exploring GP medical educator and trainee perceptions of benefits, challenges and enablers to online and face-to-face teaching and learning in vocational GP training. $150 000.

Current PhDs

  • Patricia Green: Medical students’ core procedural skills competency and their maintenance (University of Queensland)
  • Katrina Reynolds: Preparedness for practice: Podiatry graduates and clinical supervisors (Bond University)
  • Natasha Yates: Training doctors for lifelong practice: Exploration of teaching, learning and assessment of medical students’ self-evaluation and recognition of limits (Bond University) 

Routinely collected health data are often collected without specific a priori research questions. The growing availability of data routinely generated during health care delivery and through monitoring disease incidence and outcomes has transformed the research landscape. Real world findings from clinical practice such as  typical medication use, have informed educational approaches that have been designed to improve clinical management and patient care.

Recent publication

Ethics, law and professionalism are essential in healthcare. Inclusion in the various health professional curricula is essential and is likely to include ecological, planetary and public health ethics, discrete ethical dilemmas governing clinics as well as the complex challenges involved in research on humans and other animals. Current research focuses on questions of injustice, violence and disrespect in health care as these manifest systemically as well as an exploration of the philosophical drivers of inequities, which generally have health sequelae for both privileged and oppressed populations. Research also includes the ethics of judicious prescribing and clinical decision-making to inform safe and effective prescribing.

Contributors and Researchers

Recent publications

The health and well-being knowledge of Australia’s First Peoples is at least 65 000 years old. To date, this knowledge has largely been excluded from health professions education and healthcare practice. Current education in this area is mainly deficit-based which has done little to alleviate the gaps in health outcomes between First Nations People and other Australians. Research will look at the introduction of a strength-based approach to First Nations health and well-being. Naturally, recognising the value of traditional knowledge systems, there is synergy with planetary health education and research.

Contributors and Researchers

Recent publication

Human health depends on a healthy planet. With the planet currently facing a number of crises such as rapid warming, biodiversity loss and water and air pollution, and with healthcare having a large environmental footprint, health care professionals need to mitigate further ecosystem disruption and adapt to changes that have already happened. Educating for sustainable healthcare and planetary health is therefore urgent. A number of  MD student projects involve theatre waste audits.

The traditional knowledge of Indigenous Peoples around the world is vital for transforming the healthcare system and health professions education.

Contributors and Researchers

Recent publications

Modern education practices aim to move away from traditional, didactic lecturer-focussed instruction to student self-directed, authentic and experiential learning environments. The introduction of technology has been one step towards achieving this goal. The introduction of serious games, virtual and augmented reality, web-based services and mobile-based interactive activities has been another step. Research assesses the effectiveness of technology-enhanced learning and investigates the impact if its use on student achievement. Another area of expanding research is the use of social media in learning and teaching and the dissemination of health messages.

Contributors and Researchers

Recent publications

Two recently established Bond University collaborations, the Collaboration for Research in Understanding Stigma in Healthcare (CRUSH) and the Translational Simulation Collaborative are also involved in health professions education. CRUSH focuses on advancing knowledge and understanding on stigma to improve care provision and health outcomes for the individuals/groups experiencing stigma. The various members undertake evidence-based research on stigma and discrimination in healthcare to support stigma reduction efforts through education, prevention, care and treatment. Some members of this Collaboration are involved in researching  student well-being, including sexual assault and sexual harassment (SASH) at university. The Translational Simulation  Collaborative is an academic and operational alliance between Bond University and Gold Coast Health to deliver better care, improve simulation delivery techniques and develop healthcare practitioners who can use simulation in their everyday practice.