Workshop Wrap-Up: Optimising the Clinical Learning Environment – Practical Strategies to Support Wellbeing

As part of the Melbourne Academy of Clinical Educators (ACE) series, CPCs Department of Health Project team delivered two engaging workshops—in person and online—focused on practical, evidence-informed strategies to enhance student wellbeing in clinical learning environments.

The sessions focused on exploring practical strategies to support student wellbeing during clinical placements, drawing on findings from an interprofessional initiative funded by the Department of Health, related to placements in Mental Health (MH) and Alcohol and Other Drug (AOD) settings, including the framework “Enhancing Student Mental Wellbeing: A Handbook for Academic Educators,” co-authored by Lee Allen, Abi Brooker, Chi Nguyen and colleagues. Through rich discussions, participants reflected on their role as educators in fostering safe and supportive learning environments, sharing practices such as how to create a welcoming environment, fostering inclusion and connection, promoting open communication, normalising struggles and encouraging help seeking, providing practical support and more.

Attendees took away inspirations for their placement settings and the complimenting range of student and educator support services readily available through the University of Melbourne, as well as reflections on how to proactively embed wellbeing principles into placement design and supervision.

The workshops were delivered by:

• Denise Ho – with an MBA and a strong background in project management, Denise brings expertise in improving systems and stakeholder experiences, particularly in health and education contexts.
• Carolyn Cracknell–With a background in physiotherapy and clinical education, Carolyn brings expertise in designing authentic, interprofessional learning experiences.
• Meredith Oldis – a clinical psychologist with experience in both mental health and AOD services, Meredith offered valuable strategies for supporting students in emotionally demanding placements.
• Vicky Rayner – bringing a background in project management and youth mental health research, Vicky contributed perspectives on systems-level enablers of wellbeing in clinical education.

The workshops generated lively discussions and reinforced the importance of connecting clinical educators with the tools and knowledge needed to nurture student wellbeing, even small actions, when done consistently and intentionally can have lasting impact on student placement experience, especially in complex and high-demand settings.

The final session in this wellbeing series, Burnout Isn’t Inevitable: Wellbeing Tools for Sustainable Supervision, was held on Wednesday 20 August. This workshop is designed for MH and AOD clinical educators of UoM students. This reflective, interactive workshop, delivered in collaboration with the Contemplative Studies Centre, invites clinical educators to explore sustainable supervision practices and strengthen wellbeing for themselves, their students, and their colleagues.