Learning during internship: Patient educator interns' experience of transition to workplace

New graduates’ transition into the workplace is a critical period and workplace learning during this period is under- researched, particularly for people coming into newly emerging professions such as Patient Educators. The aim of this thesis was to explore Patient Educator Interns’ (PEIs) experience of learning during internship.
In this case study from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 PEIs. Following a narrative analysis, case summaries were developed, compared and interpreted. The study’s findings showed that being from a newly emerging profession can exacerbate the transition shock experienced by new graduates, as PEIs experienced additional challenges resulting from being new as a profession in the work force. The sociocultural element of transition shock was significant among those study participants who found it hard to settle in a workplace when they did not feel that they were formally recognised. The intellectual element of transition shock was evident in the rigid understanding which PEIs held about the role of patient educators. Finally, the concept of epistemological transition shock was introduced in this thesis to describe the challenge which PEIs experienced as a result of the shift from the formal learning given in educational institutions to learning which takes place in a working environment through engaging and participating in practice. This new understanding has implications for new graduates’ making the transition to practice in a range of professions.
PEIs learning experiences were seen to be influenced by three factors; PEIs’ understanding of their role, PEIs’ relationships to others, and PEIs’ understandings of learning. These factors were distilled into two issues; professional identity and personal epistemologies. These issues should be taken into account when developing educational policy, particularly,when introducing a new professional discipline, and when enhancing learning in the workplace.