Love the way you're teaching us': A purpose-developed clinical communication workshop for first year midwifery students

Preparing students for communication in clinical healthcare settings can be challenging, particularly given it may be the first time they have considered how and why they communicate. The challenge is to find an effective process for the development of clinical communication skills in a highly content-driven curriculum. The objective of this study was to empower first-year midwifery students to reflect on their experiences of communication to inform and expand their clinical communication by drawing on two distinct disciplines - midwifery and linguistics. This paper reports on the findings of a study that examined the implementation of innovative, preparatory workshops for first-year midwifery students. Data from quantitative and qualitative surveys were collected pre- and post-workshop, and post-clinical placement, and analysed using linguistic mapping and thematic analysis. Perceptible shifts in self-evaluation of competence were noted post the workshop and clinical placement. Students developed and used metalanguage appropriately to describe and evaluate communication while demonstrating increased awareness of the complexity of professional communication. They were able to find a balance between the vital technical information, and the interpersonal aspects of communication. This impacted positively on their perception of women as partners.