Understanding professionalism through unique interdisciplinary experiences
In this example of a single ‘field trip’ engagement, the full second year cohort of Optometry students experience a half day at the new Science Gallery Melbourne in the MENTAL exhibition, capitalising on the intersection of art and science, and the provocations for new ways of thinking about professionalism and multidisciplinarity. Academic lead Dr Kwang Cham worked with the AE team, including 2 Teaching Fellows, to deliver a half day ‘field trip’ experience for the 64 postgraduate students in semester 1, 2022. The students also experienced a workshop with artist Hiromi Tango and Florey scientist Dr Emma Burrows, who had collaborated on a key installation in the exhibition.
The session is designed to elicit a deeper understanding of professional practice and professionalism through a shared experience in a creative and stimulating cultural environment and intellectual context. This is in deliberate contrast to the standard lecture theater and clinical spaces the students typically occupy for their learning and provides a rich alternate lens through which the students can see and explore their own professional learning, practice and identity.
The activity was structured around a simple schedule, including overview of aims of SGM and brief overview of the current exhibition, introduction to Museums & Collections Teaching Fellows (current PhD Science students) who will host and support the Optometry students in a inter-professional peer to peer learning context; student self-tour through the exhibition and actively engages with the exhibits though social media posting; students form groups (approx 5-6 per group, 11 groups total) to share learning experience; whole class share reflections led by a spokesperson from each group; final engagement in exhibition space with two of the exhibitors discussing their research translation and cross-disciplinary collaborative process.