Other Responses for Clinical Education Education Survey done by Daphne Singingtree, Feb 2006
|
What type of midwife are you? |
| - right on the verge of gettting my CPM (in about 2-3 weeks) |
| - Student midwife in degree program - LM/CPM |
| - CPM and state licensed |
| - and CPM |
| - LM and CPM |
| - student DEM just waiting for NARM results- may be a CPM... |
| - I am an LM and a CPM |
| - licensed midwife as well |
| - cpm and lm |
| - LM |
| - CPM & LM |
| - CPM & LM |
| - CPM and LDM |
| - and CPM |
| - also a LM |
| - RN-BSN, CPM LM |
| - CPM, LM |
| - I am a LM and a CPM both are important to me |
| - and LM |
| - CPM, LM, and RN |
| - plan to become CPM next month |
| - I am a CPM and CNM |
| - soon to be licensed LM and CPM |
| - dutch midwife, resembles cpm |
| - registered nurse; registered midwife (uk trained) |
| - current LM student, have been a DEM in the past |
Where do you practice?
| - i am not currently practicing but trained with a home birth practice as well as a free standing birth center |
| - I only "practice" as a senior apprentice. |
| - medical-legal research |
| - birth center |
| - Starting my own free standing birth center in March |
| - Office for prenatals, births at home or occassional birth center |
| - not yet practicing |
| - Office |
| - not yet employed as CNM |
How many births do you currently attend a year?
| - I'm just starting my practice and only have my first client. |
| - no longer doing births |
| - none |
| - plus assisting with another app. 15-20 |
| - student just starting to attend births |
| - I am not doing births right now |
| - none unless I happen to catch a baby for a doc :-) |
When did you recieve your clinical training?
| - I was a lay midwife 1975 - 1983, with ACHI. |
| - I began six years ago with an apprenticeship, over the last 4 years or so, it's been self-study, and this last summer I took an academic intensive with the House of La Matrona. |
| - I have been attending births for some time, but I'm not finished yet. |
| - 2nd year student attended births 10 years as doula |
| - i was a dem student in 87-90 and a CNM student in 01-02 |
| - and current student for LM starting 3 years ago |
Where did you receive your didactic (academic) part of your training?
| - Apprenticeship |
| - RN Continuing education courses (IV therapy, fetal monitoring, NRP, CPR |
| - state certification program |
| - I've done some work with NCM, a busy apprenticeship, self-study, and House of La Matrona |
| - community college classes |
| - Practical Nursing at Idaho State University |
| - ATM TX |
| - ATM |
| - Texas Dept of Health basic training workshop 1993 |
| - RN 3 year diploma |
| - Association of Texas MIdwives Training Program |
| - Nursing school |
| - Created my own program with SMS as I was already experienced |
| - self study apprenticeship, then NARM certified then nursing school then CNM masters program |
| - the Netherlands, midwiferyschool |
| - university/school of midwifery, london |
| - International School of Midwifery Miami Beach |
| - various classes taught in different settings by docs, midwives... |
| - nursing school |
Where did you get the clinical part of your midwifery training? (Attending births not as a nurse or as doula)
| - Previously birthed or assisted in 200+ homebirths. |
| - originally self taught |
| - freestanding birth centre was in the philippines with U.S. trained midwives |
| - Mostly one midwife/home |
| - I worked at 2 birth centers and 1 IHS site in Chinle, AZ |
| - began on my own after 13 years in L&D |
| - 2 wk at St Lucia Hospital |
| - Africa & St Lucia |
| - home birth midwife (1) for CPM and in hospital for CNM, also did some assisting of CNM home birth practice while in midwifery school |
| - Honduran hospital |
| - colombia SA |
| - Health Department |
| - direct care of clients... who had no other care provider |
| - wasn't actually an integration, but just specific days of being on call |
| - Integration site in London England with midwives that did both home and hospital births |
| - doctor |
How would you describe the relationship you had with your preceptor/s (teaching midwives)?
| - felt like part of the team |
| - with communication problems (though not "constant" as in one of the options) |
| - the only issue was remembering what each instructor wanted you to do or not do... |
| - Became best friends |
| - Intimate, close friends; we love each other and are still in contact |
| - ended adversarial |
| - confusing |
| - confusing |
| - confusing |
| - misstrusting |
| - frinds who struggled |
| - mostly some communication problems |
| - almost all of the above |
| - wierd power issues |
| - We were somewhat close- sharing mutual respect. It was supportive both ways. |
| - Love/Hate |
| - did not work long around women I had problems with- so did not include that as part of the relationships |
| - had several different preceptors |
| - ok at first, but I feel that I outgrew her |
| - Started out cordial and friendly, moved to constant communication problems, then ended with adversarial. This is her typical mode of opperation. Most of her apprentices faced the same scenario. |
| - Intimate, but NOT best friends |
Other Responses to Question 11
Did your preceptor treat you...
| - Often expected me to do things I was not trained for yet. |
| - We were friends from before. |
| - but some days I did feel like I had paid a lot of money to do a lot of scut work, but not every day , just on the dyas that we were so tired from tons of births in a row |
| - like a future collegue |
| - I was blessed to have a very experienced preceptor that place great value on hands-on experience from the very beginning of my training. |
| - like someone who should be seen and not heard |
| - one preceptor gave tasks without training how she wanted them done |
| - We only did a few birth together |
| - Had a variety of clinical sites & preceptors |
| - She inspired me to have more confidence in myself as a midwife. |
| - the preceptors I stayed with respected me- had to walk away from the rest |
| - depended on the preceptor |
| - hot and cold. sometimes valued, other times annoyance |
Other Responses to Question 13
If your clinical training involved doing "scut" work did you feel that..
| - N/A |
| - we all shared in tasks like cleaning up blood |
| - The unnecessary portions had nothing to do with the practice. |
| - n/a |
| - aI felt cleaning up was my way of trading back for the experience |
| - I have heard stories from other midwives, but most of my "scut" work was just delivering placentas after the birth and cleaning up. Nothing to horrible. |
| - not applicable |
| - This type of work is imperative to the process of practicing as a primary midwife, my preceptors never required I do any work they would not. I hate to even refer to it as "scut" since it is all just part of birth. To my mind, birth is the ultimate place for us to act in a humble manner. The attituted that anything relating to birth is menial doesn't suit me. It is all sacred, from scrubbing poop out of linens to getting to witness the birth of that special being. But then again, my preceptors didn't require that I clean their homes nor sit their children unnecessarily. |
| - everyone, even midwives, does scut work- it is part of the job |
| - all midwives need to do 'scut' work..its part of the job ;-) |
| - I believed that helping my preceptor in any way was helping my apprenticeship. I did not have this issue with the 'better' preceptor. |
| - no |
| - not applicable |
| - we work together, so it rotates around, one CNM I have assisted has others do everything including carrying and cleaning- could be abusive to some students- including yelling and impatients which she did not do to me because of my age and experience |
| - None |
| - some midwives use this as a way to put you in your place |
| - it wasn't an issue |
| - not applicable |
| - n/a |
| - did not do |
| - na |
Other Responses to Question 19
What were the challenges or problems (if any) you found in your clinical training?
Check all that apply (if none state so in comment)
| - not enough suturing |
| - I was pushed but appropriately |
| - That's why I'm going to Casa. |
| - none |
| - none |
| - I was trying to do the NCM modules while in a very busy apprenticeship and found it too easy to put the book learning on the back burner while attending clinic 40 hours a week plus 5-7 births a month. Thus, prioritizing my time became one of the major problems of my apprenticeship. |
| - none |
| - none |
| - none |
| - do not desire MEDICAL training studying MIDWIFERY |
| - developing policies |
| - distance from preceptor, no direct entry midwives in my town, studying with a midwife 100 miles away |
| - none |
| - distance between us poses challenges - opportunities for practice |
| - none |
| - none |
| - none to report |
| - I did feel like my clinical training was lacking in herbs and in postpartum follow-up, but that was really just because of the personal style of my preceptor. |
| - none |
| - My preceptor was not comfortable asking women if they would allow me to do a vaginal check after she did. I did not feel a cervix past 8cm until I started taking my own clients. I also never felt a womans cervix before labor began until I started taking my own clients |
| - none |
| - none |
| - None |
| - none |
| - None |
| - Money issues; pinning her down to sign off on the paperwork; too many 4-handed catches, not enough backing up to let me catch alone or deal with difficulties |
| - preceptor afraid of my questions and didn't train me for assigned tasks |
| - none |
| - None |
| - with certain preceptors, was pushed into situations before ready, with others I was held back and only allowed to observe and was never left alone w/ patients to actually 'practice' |
| - I felt like I got such a varied experience that it was all covered biut none of it was covered in one place |
| - it was in the beginning of midwifery and we were all flying by the seat of our pants |
| - none |
| - I don't consider it a problem but it would have been nice to be in a setting that required this for my self assurance when performing |
| - disrespect |
| - none |
| - i was "forced" into practice after only 20 student births because the midwife retired suddenly due to prosecution and her clients chose me as I was their only out of hospital option |
| - In the long run, these things weren't a big deal. |
| - unclear expectations |
| - no feedback or follow up w/ preceptor |
| - none |
| - Not enough high-risk |
| - rural midwifery can be hard to get the required numbers in a timely fashion |
| - None |
| - not really any of these |
| - by the time I was ready to be licensed was more educated than most of the LMs available to work with, |
| - some preceptors |
| - She saw every question as "judging her". |
Other Responses to Question 20
What were some of the most helpful parts of your clinical training to your current practice?
| - seeing so many births to determine normal versus abnormal |
| - I am not in independent practice. |
| - encouraged to be evidence based midwife, to research all aspects of care |
| - As I stated before, I got a lot of hands-on experience from the very beginning of my training. I have heard from other midwives that they are allowed to "look, but don't touch", and I am very thankful that I did not have a preceptor with that attitude toward students. |
| - I learned lots of lost tricks loke turning OP babies etc, My preceptor is fearless! |
| - variety of client situations |
| - learning what not to do, or how I wanted to do things differntly |
| - experience with labor/birth |
| - N/A |
| - communication, and problem solving with respect to other's views |
| - the grace and openess of women to help me learn , and a statement borrowed from Robert Bly- even mean women can be sweet-some midwives when they are deeply focused and intent are amazing and artful |
| - learning how not to practice |
| - LOTS of births |
Other Responses to Question 21
The qualities I look most for in a preceptor are:
| - Someone who will guide me through the process |
| - I answered this question, although I am the preceptor |
| - Just a note, I was the first apprentice my preceptors had and they now admit that they really had no idea what they were getting into. They didn't really understand how hard it would be for them to train someone else. |
| - Honesty and stringent ethics are very important; there are a couple of midwives in my area (large metropolitan area) who are..."ethically challenged". |
| - Someone who continues to learn and improve professionally |
| - someone with excellent credentials and experience |
| - humble and open |
| - Someone who is willing to share her past and present experiences with me, while instructing me and helping me gain experience. |
| - Someone who is an expert in natural birth- someone who is willing to take the time necessary (outside of clinical time) to nurture a student |
| - professional, clear boundaries, clear expectations |
| - someone who will be supportive, make corrections and suggestions tactfully without belittling |
| - I had few options at the time, but then it turned out that all of above statements rang true. I had a wonderful teacher. |
| - someone school sent me to |
| - I am not looking for a preceptor, or assigning any |
| - not abusive to her clients or students |
| - willing to give and take, learning together, not being burnt out |
| - I never gave it any thought. I precepted with "my" midwife. |
Other Responses to Question 23
How do you teach student midwives?
| - multiple preceptos, multiple students until training is complete |
| - multiple preceptors, multiple students |
| - we are a group practice now |
| - one on one training until student moves on of own accord -seems students are very much either in a rush or have great difficulties finishing off...as the training may be more of a life training, in the sense that some women will move on because they got what they needed, and it is not necessarily their next step to go and be a middwife, though they will use the midwife's model to enable other goals in their life, or to grow (up) |
| - I usually recommend that students get to a birthing clinic to see high numbers and a more 'high-risk' population |
| - multiple preceptors and multiple students |
| - I utilize students as birth assistance but do not, at this time, provide formal training. |
| - Just started training would like to offer what the student needed one-on- one for the length of time THEY need. |
| - i teach them as birth assistants, right now, and they may work for other midwives as well |
| - one on one until ready to move onto school or clinic for more expereince |
| - multiple preceptors, multiple students |
Other Responses to Question 25
If you use written guidelines, agreements, and skill check off lists were they....
| - National College of Midwifery |
| - NARM skills guidelines |
| - would like guidelines/objectives but the srudent is assigned to the CNM who is present in clinic. We rarely see objectives for the APN studnts, but have them for the PA students |
| - I have not established these yet but are looking to skills guidelines from books and from SMS |
| - state requirements for licensing |
| - & go through subjects as they are relivant to clients cases |
| - developed from NARM skill list |
Other Responses to Question 26
How are you compensated for training students?
| - tuition fees |
| - there is no compensation |
| - not compensated |
| - none |
| - I receive nothing |
| - I prefer not to pay students. I have many questions about this, but one of my students is on sagefemmes (despite me asking her not to be). |
| - when unlicensed no money in any direction |
| - No pay |
| - I pay small fee once student is able to be second at birth |
| - I also pay students fees for office hours |
Other Responses to Question 27
What are qualities you look for in a midwifery student?
| - Someone with the drive and determination to complete the course |
| - experience going to births 30-40, availibility 24/7, passion and drive for the work |
| - passionate about midwifery, willing to commit to the program |
| - Heart and desire to be a midwife |
| - Similar philosophy about work and strong work ethic |
| - some one who is observant and willing to work as needed to have a positive birth outcome, including clean-up afterwards! |
| - willingness to learn |
| - real desire to become a midwife |
| - a true desire to be a midwife |
| - Passion for healthy birthing situations |
| - willingness, readiness to learn and be practical |
| - someone who will work hard and not act like they are Owed an education etc. Humble,hardworking,compassionate |
| - Labor and delivery experience |
| - committed, motivated, servant's heart, caring, dependable |
| - someone who believes in women and birth |
| - competent dependable |
| - someone with realistic idea of what it entails to be midwife-- responsibility, eager to learn, self motivated, smart |
| - aptitude for the field, faithful and dependable |
| - dedication to apprenticeship |
| - someone with a passion for being with women at births |
| - compassionate, sincere, honest |
| - eager to learn, on time, available to attend births, puts the practice first |
| - Someone who cares to learn. Open minded without some personal agenda |
| - very independent |
| - dedicated willing to learn, to work hard, non judgemental open mind |
| - willingness to devote a lot of time to midwifery, that midwifery is a top priority, that they are open to critiques, that they have the possibility of a quiet nature and are quiet at a birth |
| - devoted |
| - trainable spirit, eager to learn, willing to take direction |
| - I prefer students who have had experience already. |
| - Respectful, motivated, and dedicated/loyal. Needs to always be available by phone with a reliable car! |
| - someon who wants to learn |
| - women who have a clear intent, and who have some ability- like good reasoning skills- |
| - Committed to midwifery/not in it "because the like babies" |
| - some one who can stay up for 24 hrs and still have a sense of humor, someone with a recognized natural authority- by women around her- it can be academic or it can be sensibility-like who do women confide in or seek out opinions, I also look for a certain type of hand skills or hearing skills, many types of women can and are midwives - dedication and ability to catch on most important |
| - Someone who is an active member of the birth community, can give references, is very dependable/responsible, has experience being on call, and is sensitive when discussiong birth expereinces |
| - focused, motivated and able to come when called to births |
| - someone very motivated and self-directed whom I think will become a good midwife. |
| - experienced labor and delivery nurse |
Other Responses to Question 28
What are the most common problems you have seen with midwifery students?
| - not ready for the amount of work program requires |
| - cant make the on call committmewnt |
| - N/A |
| - talk too much, too loud, insensitive |
| - Too good to do "scut" work |
| - think they might be ready to be on own before they are |
| - difficulty enduring to the end |
| - Too opininated at times |
| - They like to get pregnant and expect free midwifery care. I have two out of three apprentices on maternity leave right now. |
| - power hungery women sometimes want to use midwifery as a way to achieve that, the other thing I don't like are people who are looking for outside validation- approval from medical care providers |
| - desire to be controling -- and although some women want this kind of midwife I have the hardest time working with this kind of motivation |
| - can only relate to women of childbearing years. does not want to take care of any perimenopausal women |
Other Responses to Question 29
Is there anything more about your experience regarding clinical training either as a student or preceptor that you would like to add?
| - I have almost quite being a preceptor many times because of the ungratefulness of students. They often feel like you owe them a lot and that you just aren't given them enough. They also tend to gossip about their preceptor to others and are very critical. |
| - Preceptor: Students need to be matched with preceptors who want to do the teaching, not everyone. A preceptor needs to be patient, with clear expectations. |
| - i had a great initial experience with the home birth midwife i worked with. altho i was disappointed in the lack of time we were able to spend with academics. so i went to the clinic in taos, nm where i got quite a bit of practice but was being mentored by midwves who were not teachers. there are allways places to improve. now that i have my cpm, i am hoping to find a real solid mentor to usher me into private practice. |
| - I am glad I went to an El Paso birth center first, then homebirth apprenticeship, allowed me to have basic skills practiced before a slower paced practice where I can refine and go more in depth. |
| - I loved being an apprentice and I love apprenticing!!! |
| - We have potential students come for a three day interview to see if we are mutually compatable. |
| - I felt lucky to have a preceptor, have deliveries and listened to what the preceptor said. Some preceptors were better teachers, better communicators and then others, that is how it goes.I do not know what 'scut'work is, a poor word choice to have in a questionaire. If scut work is getting patients to the bathroom, cleaning up the patient, delivery room then yes I did. I did not consider it scut work. In the birth center we mopped the floor. The language in the questionaire is biased, it is clear that you have had problems with preceptors and clinical site. I hope that you can balance your findings some way to offset this bias. |
| - After returning to midwifery after a 20-year absence, and although midwives are now licensed in California -- we are still struggling to obtain adequate training! The Challenge Process is supposed to ONLY be for expeirenced midwives to demonstrate their skills -- NOT for students with no academic or clinical training! I was fortunate to be able to work in a birth center in Southern California for MOST of my clinical requirements. But in order to get "enough" catches (since MOST of my previous birth experiences don't count), I will have to work at CASA for a month, and also go to Mexico to do hospital deliveries with an LM who is also an MD there. Why can't I stay in California? THAT IS MY GOAL -- after I receive my license, to open a network of birth centers to provide highest-quality, lower-cost primary care to women (from menarche to menopause!) -- and to train midwives. I plan to work with the local high schools, identifying midwifery as an honorable and lucrative career for women, and to go to the various churches, synagogues, and mosques to ask women what they want in maternity care -- and to encourage them to seek training. We'll see -- it'll be a challenging year! |
| - I have been precepting students for almost 20 years. It has gone from informal apprenticeship( follow me and do what I do) as I was trained ,up to the present, where I require any student to be enrolled in an accredited program. This is such a wonderful improvement for both student and preceptor, as we have a framework for our relationship, and a known, basic common language. |
| - I have also worked as a home health aide doing hospice work, which I view as a continuation of my midwifery education. When I reflect back on my experiences thus far, I view my education as a labyrinth that curves and doubles back on itself. I only expect that to continue as I practice as a midwife. |
| - These questions do not allow me to answer for the differences in the THREE preceptors I had. |
| - Believe that there is an inappropriate time line suggested for students who train in a small homebirth practice. Within a very personal practice, trust and repore with clients and within the community is built over time...kind of like building a house. The foundation must be laid solidly, then the rest will fall in to place. Catching babies can be difficult to acheive until the student has built up the trust and self esteem. In a small practice this can take longer than 3 years. It sems that for so many students, just when they are ready for a more advanced portion of the training, they decide they must jump ship and speed up the numbers by going to a clinic or somewhere like Jamaica, to fullfill the requirements. In some instances, this can be just the right step for the student, and in others, it eliminates the continuity and understanding of what is needed for the 'fine tuning' of the student. Within my community, we have not had the best of results with the women who have been trained in El Paso or Jamaica etc. They have gotten in to trouble with births due to missing a component of a 'community standard', or lacking colleageal relationships, and therefore not reaching out when in trouble or confusion, leading to bad outcomes which reflect on the entire midwifery community. I have been training students for a long time, and today's students appear to give less value to the holistic part of the training they are receiving ie. herbal medicine, intuition, women's knowledge and rites of passage etc etc, than just getting those numbers and getting a license and making money. Many have big student loans, and are under pressure. Given how much the cost of the various programs are, there are some midwives who do not feel adequately reimbursed or compensated, for the amount of clinical experiences and trainig they must provide, for what turns out to be a very small amount of money, and for a student who quite often, just as she is becoming helpful, will leave. Preceptors are the backbones of the various programs. W/o the clinical sites it is just academics. They need to be appreciated and adequately compensated. |
| - I really love working with most of the students I have had and my clients love ythem also |
| - I don't feel like this survey gives opportunity to rate more than one clincal site or preceptor (I had to chose one to focus on). I have many preceptors with varying qualities. |
| - It has been difficult to find midwives locally willing to train with. Although they think of themselves as helpful that didn't work out for me even though I throughly prepared myself before seeking a preceptor. Frustrating. |
| - We need a preceptor training program, and 'NO', I'm not willing to create that, but I'd be willing to help. |
| - I do not support direct entry midwifery. |
| - As a student in a Canadian province without legislation, apprenticing as part of my education has been a creative undertaking. the lack of legislation has meant that there were no restrictions on how this is done - a lot of freedom. I live 2 1/2 hours from the nearest midwives since there are so few. it has been a challenge to deal with these distance issues. Also, we are 4 students in the province where only 4 midwives are practicing - it's a lot of responsibility for them. |
| - Only in the last couple of years have I seen CNMs with poor knowlwdge base and self-centered concerns over patient needs |
| - As a new student, I'm still in the newset stages of learning. I love it. |
| - They think that since they only have to have 20 observes and 20 Primaries, that they'll only have to do 40 births. They need to realize they have to be READY for primaries, and that's going to take much more than 20 active participant births. |
| - I did feel like the academic part of my training was lacking, but in a way, I feel that my training was so much better than other midwives who attended a midwifery school or learned from a distance program. I was lucky enough to find a midwife who trained me not to follow protocols or to expect certain things in labor "because that's what the book says will happen", but to really listen to women and to trust my instincts. I read the midwifery books, but this is not where my midwifery knowledge came from. For instance, I had read about shoulder dystocia, and the Gaskin maneuver, and the corkscrew maneuver, and suprapubic pressure. These were all terms I knew, and I had studied all of the illustrations describing how to handle a shoulder dystocia, but when it came right down to it, I didn't know a thing about how to get a stuck baby un-stuck until I had to help do it. My preceptor believed in teaching women to be midwives in the way that it has been done since the beginning of time: by passing down knowledge from one generation to the next. |
| - Homebirth, by it's very nature, selects the cream of the crop in terms of healthy moms with normal pregnancies. Thus, I find it difficult to get exposure to complications and emergency situations. I plan on going away for more clinical experience, but it feels rather explotive to me to have to go to a third world community in order to complete my training--somewhere where women will take anything/anyone, because that's as good as it gets. I wish there were more clinical opportunites within the US. |
| - I love my preceptor she really involved me in the birthing process and also had confidence in me when i didnt! |
| - I expect a student to do most of her reading/studying on her own, ask lots of questions at appropriate times, and call me, don't wait for me to call her. |
| - I would like to see more midwives working togather to give students a wider variety of experience. More different kinds of midwives and situations to learn from. |
| - I loved my training until the last year. I really needed more independent catches and experience suturing. She simply could not step out of the way and trust me to catch those babies. I think I did two births with her where she sat on her hands (literally!) to keep from interfering. I eventually finished my clinical work with another midwife who very willingly let me catch babies and placentas. As for suturing, I believe that this is a universal problem among preceptors and an understandable one. I totally understand how a midwife is not going to allow a student to learn on one of her precious client's perineum! So, I am now practicing on my own, but I have a mentor, a CNM with many years experience who is there with me at births to coach me through difficult moments and talk me through suturing so I can really learn how to do it! On the up side, my wonderful preceptor and I still have a great relationship and I really love her and miss seeing her often. I also really love practicing on my own! |
| - Students often don't understand the life of a midwife and how it will affect their family when they begin. |
| - I have only had three students and two of them didn't complete the course. One had small children and then got pregnant during her training and decided it was too much for her. I agreed. The other one just wasn't cut out to be a midwife and I encouraged her to look for something else. The last one graduated from her midwifery training program and is now working as a midwife. She still assists me at births and is a wonderful midwife. I am very proud of her and all she has accomplished. Her children are all grown and she has a supportive husband. She also has extensive labor and delivery experience in a hospital setting which was both good and bad. She had to unlearn certain things but also came into it with wonderful clinical skills (IV starts, vital signs, recognizing potential problems, etc.) I enjoy having a student but don't want to have more than one at a time and I am now very selective about who I choose. |
| - When I was a student 9 years ago, there were no guidlines for student/preceptor relationship. The preceptor could take great advantage of the situation, dumping the student for anything she didn't like. Now there are more guidelines, and I encourage those students I talk to, to get something in writing and get their CPM application, if that is what they are planning to do, right away, so the preceptor can start checking them off on skills and numbers. |
| - I think there are many flaws with the current models of apprenticeship. I think that many students are not given true primary experience under supervision. I can understand why this happens (from the perspective of a practicing midwife)- but I think it is a disservice to families and future midwives. |
| - I think there are many flaws with the current models of apprenticeship. I think that many students are not given true primary experience under supervision. I can understand why this happens (from the perspective of a practicing midwife)- but I think it is a disservice to families and future midwives. |
| - I think there are many flaws with the current models of apprenticeship. I think that many students are not given true primary experience under supervision. I can understand why this happens (from the perspective of a practicing midwife)- but I think it is a disservice to families and future midwives. |
| - Set aside time to communicate. Student must prioritize she is helping midwife and birthing families first, her own self needs second. |
| - no clear cut 'graduation' |
| - I love teaching/mentoring someone who wants to be taught and has a real love for midwifery - that passion that cannot be taught. |
| - My preceptor had a harder time backing away from the primary role as a midwife to allow me more hands on role, but I was one of the first apprentices she had experience training so I guess it was a learning experience for both of us. She has since trained several other midwives. |
| - As a preceptor, I take my job very seriously. I try to have quarterly check-ins with my student to be sure we are each getting our needs met; I can rely on her to be an able birth assistant and she can rely on me to guide her and give her a nudge when she is ready to try new skills. I also depend on the midwifery school she is in to communicate with me about problems, academic or otherwise that I should be aware of. |
| - I'm glad things have gotten more organized with midwifery trianing. |
| - Students under 30 seem not to have as strong a commitment as I would like. They find hours too hard. This clinical time weeds out some .which is good. Being a free enterprise midwife and delivering with a family can be to much for young people who have limited multitask experince.After all the traditional midwife was past childbearing years. I think if someone is young,they may be best becoming a CNM. they can work in hospitasl ,on a schedule,have insurance. They risk being afraid of home birth and being brain washed by the medical profession. But having kids at home is not right if you are gone a lot. I beleive that to be a good midwife you first have to be a good Mom. |
| - I am glad it's over. |
| - I had a variety of clinical preceptors and performed births in hospitals with limited to excellent resources. I think I learned a variety of ways to look at situations that fostered clinical thinking. My progrma integrated deliveries from the 1st semester through completion of integration. Unfortunately, my integration occured at a level 1 hospital and my precptor was not happy about taking on another student. |
| - I became a legally practicing midwife in Texas before training was required or very available. I am glad Texas now requires more training and skills than before. I feel now there is too much emphasis on nursing skills and less on traditional midwifery skills. Most midwives in the city where I live do not use or own a fetoscope. Most send their clients for routine U/S. most are accepting of formula feeding and routine infant circumcision. This makes me very sad. |
| - Training a midwife is much harder than I thought...I actually thought I was helpful to my preceptor and now I realize that I was in some ways a burdon. I also realize that training a student takes away from the direct focus on the client. I find it challenging to split my attention. |
| - More clinical time, and learning that it is more than just the birth it is the whole process. |
| - I think clinical training is difficult for me to observe when a woman is deserting her small children and husband on a regular basis. I am finding that philosophically this makes me uncomfortable and I would like to see women mothering their families and then taking on midwifery as their families are older. This would not keep from helping the younger familied students but I find it concerning as a trend. |
| - Interpersonal issues were always the problem. Some preceptors were better than others. |
| - I love training students almost as much as I love being a midwife! |
| - It is hard for me to comment on preceptors because I worked with so many, but there were two I worked mainly with for about the same amount of time. I have completely opposite feelings and opinions about those two midwives. So, which one should I refer to? I've had many negative experiences, but I'll go ahead and comment on the most positive experience I had. I'll refer to her as the 'better' preceptor. Contact me if you want the other input. As far as students go, I'm at a loss, and I already have read your Training Midwives handbook (not to mention Becoming a Midwife and Helping Hands, too)! |
| - My preceptor was not very experienced as a midwife, she was still finding her own confidence and as such did not often allow me the opportunity to build my own confidence. She was great at explaining things, but not great at standing back and allowing me to perform skills. Her expectations of me were also unclear. At time she treated me as a partner and expected me to behave as a partner when she was not available to clients; otherwise she made it a point to inform people that I was her "assistant". |
| - I had better experiences at the health department where the midwives were clinical faculty at the university. I spent the most clinical hours at the BC and got the least experience. The MW then went on to give me this glowing evaluation of skills I never got to use. I was practically living there and made huge sacrifices of family and was physically present at 17 births and was allowed only one catch. It was most discouraging because it was the place I most wanted to be and actively persued. It left me shell shocked for many months and not wanting to test or job search. |
| - I think it is important for students to really understand what being a midwife is all about, long hours, family suffers, etc. Too many students do not realize that when you are the sole practitioner, you are on call 24/7/365. I missed alot of football games, cheerleader competitions and Math Bowls! |
| - I used to like to train SMS students but now they are gone for 4 days per month, I don't feel I can rely on them. I currently have my first long term apprentice. |
| - When we started out there were a couple of midwives and they would not teach us so women let us learn/practice on them- it is always about the women and their families- how to serve them best- I have used this as a centering post |
| - I was one of 3 preceptors while working in the birth center and appreciated seeing students from different programs. I also taught didactic/clinical in a nurse midwifery school and appreciated the 1-2 ratio in clinical sites. The problem in recent years is adequate experiences for students with midwifery practices being closed or taken over by residency programs. |
| - Question 28 - I have only had 1 apprentice I had problems with. The others were incredibly mature, hard-working and dedicated. |
| - I wish student were more humble and realized it is an honor to attend our clients births. |
| - as a student, an agreement should be made early on. a procedure for debriefing after births, an acknowledgment that a student is learning current information that may be new to preceptor. if the preceptor is just looking for an assistant or free help, then she should not say that she is training a midwife and then not act like she is. |