Preparing medical students as agentic learners through enhancing student engagement in clinical education.

Abstract

Preparing medical students to be agentic learners is held to be increasingly important. This is because beyond sequencing, enhancing and varying of experiences across university and health care settings, medical students require epistemological agency to optimize their learning. The positioning of students in these settings, and their engagement with these is central to effective medical education. Consequently, when considering both the processes and outcomes of individuals’ learning to become a doctor, it is helpful to account for the interrelated pedagogical factors of affordance, guidance, and engagement. This paper focuses on the last set of concerns - the student’s engagement - with particular consideration to how they shape the relations between what experiences are afforded through the medical program and how they elect to engage with them. Evidence from a qualitative study is used to present five salient factors that are central to assist medical students prepare as agentic learners.