Riley Ellis, right, who trained as part of the Clinical Externs in Nursing program at St. Joseph's Health Care London, learns how to check patient vital signs with assistance from registered nurse Sandra Caspi.
A surge in demand for student placements over the past decade has led to a far-reaching evolution in teaching at St. Joseph's Health Care London (St. Joseph's).
As one of 16 academic health centres in Ontario, St. Joseph's partners with a staggering 47 academic institutions, including meeting the educational needs of both Fanshawe College and Western University.
Enrollment trends in post-secondary education across Canada have been rising since the turn of the century with Ontario currently leading in enrollment of post-secondary students of any province/territory in the country. In health-related fields of study alone, enrollment has increased by 29 per cent since 2009.
Born and raised in Nigeria, West Africa, Blessing Eleleme (left) credits the Supervised Practice Experience Partnership (SPEP) Program, which she completed at St. Joseph's Health Care London, for helping her integrate smoothly into Ontario's health care system. She is now a registered practical nurse with St. Joseph's the Veterans Care Program.
At St. Joseph's, this surge has resulted in a 65 per cent increase in the number of student placements over the past decade - from approximately 800 in 2014 to 1,326 placements in 2024.
“With an academic mission central to the organization's strategic priorities, St. Joseph's strives for the highest quality experience for learners as well as for staff supervising those learners," says Lara Howe, Manager of Professional Practice who provides leadership and oversight to the Student Affairs Department.
To meet ever-evolving needs and demands, the organization has taken several innovative steps. Among them are:
Leveraging technology: Onboarding learners historically required multiple manual processes and collaboration with academic partners and several internal departments. In 2023, St. Joseph's implemented the Nirvsystem, a cloud-based onboarding and credentialing platform, which now enables a professional, streamlined approach to student onboarding and registration.
Innovative placement models: St. Joseph's preceptors have been creative in implementing various models of student supervision. For example, occupational therapist preceptors are offering 2:1 and 4:1 student placement models supervising multiple students in a single placement timeframe. As well, a 4:2 physiotherapy student-led clinic model resulted in the elimination of a patient waitlist for physiotherapy within St. Joseph's Rehabilitation Program.
Some students, meanwhile, are contributing significantly to the work environment at St. Joseph's – with learning still front and centre. For example, massage therapy students have supported corporate staff wellness initiatives by providing massages, and ergonomic students have completed physical demands assessments for employees.
Isha Rai, far right, a clinical extern at St. Joseph's Health Care London, engages with mental health care patient Cheryl, middle, and registered nurse Christine Regidor during a therapeutic recreation program at St. Joseph's Parkwood Institute.
Expanded student opportunities: St. Joseph's has been exploring untapped and non-traditional student opportunities with both Western and Fanshawe. For example, St. Joseph's leaders and nurse educators are supporting Western's Master of Nursing practicums on educational strategies and patient education, and Breast Care Program leaders are collaborating with Western's Master of Business Administration students to navigate the Ministry of Health's expansion of Ontario Breast Screening Program. The goal of the partnership with the business students is to enhance breast care capacity and efficiency through predictive models and queueing theory to forecast demand, optimize resource allocation, and reduce wait times.
Preceptor recognition: With a renewed focus on recognition, St. Joseph's ensures preceptors are celebrated corporate wide through internal newsletters and storytelling. The Professional Practice team has also initiated preceptor recognition as part of the organization's annual Professional Practice Excellence Awards ceremony with approximately 30 preceptors honoured in the first year.
Strengthening partnerships: Professional practice consultants participate in regular fieldwork advisory or clinical experience committees, working in close partnership with academic partners on topics related to fieldwork. In addition, quarterly engagement meetings are held with various academic partners to explore innovations or changes on the horizon and ideas for continuous quality improvement in working together.
“Our goal is for all learners to have a great experience at St. Joseph's," says Howe. “Much planning and many future enhancements will allow us to keep evolving as our student population grows and changes. Our goal is sustainable capacity for all types of placements so that our clinical programs and support services, as well as academia, have consistent expectations of the placements we can offer."