Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia
Context and setting: Tertiary education in Australia has undergone significant change in the last two decades. In health, generic undergraduate programs have proliferated to align with graduate-entry professional preparation programs. In health sciences and nursing at the University of Sydney an innovative degree structure enables students to undertake a generic undergraduate degree combined with a professional preparation Master level program, commencing graduate-level units of study as early as Year 2. This new approach is being adopted at La Trobe University in 2009. These accelerated professional preparation programs have implications for teaching practices and student support. This paper considers student experiences in graduate entry and combined degree programs in health sciences and nursing.
What was done: Students enrolled in (a) combined Bachelor/Master professional preparation programs in health sciences and nursing and (b) graduate-entry professional preparation programs in health sciences and nursing completed a survey to examine the student experience during the transition from graduate-level units of study.
Evaluation and impact: The findings indicated that students in both graduate-entry and combined degrees had a similar understanding of graduate-level study, and many were making a smooth transition. For graduate-entry students, workload and managing work–life balance were key concerns, while students in relatively new combined degrees were apprehensive about how their qualifications would be received after graduation.
Keywords: health professional education, graduate-entry study, transition