How do we prepare medical students for professional practice in rural and community settings?
In this session, Sarah Hyde from the School of Rural Medicine at Charles Sturt University shares how PebblePad is used to support employability, professionalism, and reflective practice across the Doctor of Medicine program.
Sarah explains how a longitudinal professional portfolio underpins the program from first to fifth year, enabling students to develop self‑regulation, professional identity, and reflective capability—critical skills for doctors who will train and practise across diverse rural communities. With students spending their later years dispersed across clinical schools, the portfolio provides continuity, evidence of learning, and a structured framework for feedback and development.
Key themes include:
- Preparing medical students for rural and community‑based practice
- Using portfolios as authentic, profession‑aligned assessment
- Supporting reflective practice, professionalism, and self‑regulated learning
- Embedding feedback through portfolio advisors and tutors
- Scaffolding clinical reasoning, self‑assessment, and learning planning
- Developing patient‑centred, community‑connected doctors
This session offers valuable insight for educators designing longitudinal, authentic assessment to support employability and professional readiness in health and medical education.
This was filmed at Brisbane 2022 MiniBash.