Confident and competent students

Background and challenges

Many midwifery students at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) felt unprepared when encountering birth lacerations during clinical rotations. Additionally, some were not permitted to suture in practice, or had limited access to clinical cases. To build confidence and competence, they needed preparation before their 1-hour on-campus lab session on birth lacerations, ensuring they were better equipped for clinical rotations and could gain greater value from their clinical experiences.

Implementation

With UTS’ hybrid learning model, students use GynZone remotely as part of their curriculum, and again on campus during hands-on training. The GynZone app also serves as a handy refresher, helping the midwifery students reinforce their learning on the go and is great for repetition.

The impact

• Reduced anxiety about treating birth lacerations
• Improved outcomes in both clinical rotations and skills lab sessions
• Better instrument handling thanks to a solid theoretical foundation before lab sessions
• Confident and competent students ready for clinical rotations

Conclusion

Students state that GynZone’s content gave them the confidence to enter the lab feeling safe while reducing the anxiety they had before learning about birth lacerations. Now equipped with a solid theoretical foundation, they have the background knowledge needed to ask more targeted questions during their clinical rotations.

Perineal repair sessions have also improved, with students demonstrating better instrument handling skills due to their deep understanding of anatomy and surgical techniques prior to attending hands-on training.

And lastly, educators experienced more confident and competent students — students report being ready for their clinical rotations.

All this, without adding extra classroom- and educators hours. Just flexible, on-demand learning—like a textbook, but better.