Exploratory research on field education in medical social work in the perspective of sustainable development

ABSTRACT

The sustainable development goals set by the United Nations require all learners to have the knowledge necessary to promote sustainable development. Sustainable development education is a deliberate education intervention that addresses issues of global justice and sustainability. This article attempts to discuss the changes of external environment that influence field education development of medical social work in China from the perspective of sustainable development. We apply the perspective of future research to guide our work. We employ exploratory qualitative research to analyze the narration of field education experience of social work students in the medical environment. We discuss the impact on field education, which is caused by expected changes; our research results show that critical reflection is very important in field education. In order to better develop medical social work field education, students’ sustainable development conceptualization and sustainable development ability must be cultivated.

KEYWORDS:

• Field education
• qualitative approaches
• critical reflection
• medical social work

Acknowledgments

This study was supported by Program for the Philosophy and Social Sciences Research of Higher Learning Institutions of Shanxi(Grant No. 201803066) and Philosophy and Social Science Planning Project of Shanxi Province (Grant No. 2020YJ054).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Ethics

There are no ethical issues involved in this research. The purpose, significance and method of this research have been clearly explained to the students. The research process did not involve personal privacy, no personal interests. The purpose of this study is to help students distinguish professional problems, solve practical problems and improve their reflective ability. Therefore, this study does not need ethical review.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Program for the Philosophy and Social Sciences Research of Higher Learning Institutions of Shanxi [201803066]; Philosophy and Social Science Planning Project of Shanxi Province [2020YJ054].

Notes on contributors

Li Wang

Li Wang is a senior lecturer at the Department of Social Work, Shanxi Medical University, China. Her research area concerns medical social work.She has been actively involved in studying social welfare and medical social work education including theoretical and field training.

Zhizhong Wang

Zhizhong Wang is an professor at the Department of Social Work, Shanxi Medical University, China. His research area concerns theoretical and practical challenges for medical social work education, including the field training and professional integration.