Table 7 Registrar perceptions of learning plans

Good way to store, document, or reflect on learning needs

“Well I suppose it’s a way to direct our study but also, you know, you can reflect back on it at the end of term and go, ‘Oh, did I actually complete that goal?’ And, ‘Where did I fall down?’” (RTP1, GPT3&4 s)

“I do like the concept of the learning plan because … if I didn’t write it down I wouldn’t remember it, so I really do, I really found it useful to write down what topics I needed to know more about. Because it would then give me something to focus on” (GP202)

Brings focus to learning

“… when I started using it in my GPT1 I found it really helpful … it actually keeps a track of my planning” (GP301)

“I find that learning plan is a very helpful way as to help me to remember what sort of things I need to learn, what sort of things I want to know more” (GP302)

Value of learning plans not being appreciated until later

“… in the last year or so when I was kind of thinking this actually wasn’t a bad idea then I started to be more kind of pragmatic about it and thought it was actually kind of a useful thing” (GP102)

“I am now on the learning planner bandwagon” (GP304)

Promotes learner reflection

“…for people like that, that have no idea or don’t have that cohesive or reflective way of learning, it’s good to have a learning planner there so they can then go back and reflect on what they’ve learnt … Because not everybody is alike in terms of being proactive with their learning” (GP304)

Encourages independent thinking and self-directed learning

“So I find my current learning plan so much more useful because it’s entirely directed by me and it’s focused on what I’m seeing every day” (RTP2, GPT3&4 s)

Good idea at a macro level

“I do like what it’s trying to achieve but I don’t know that it quite does it very effectively” (RTP1, GPT3&4 s)

“… conceptually it was helpful … it helped to demonstrate what you might do if you were identifying learning deficits. But I don’t think as an actual tool I ever used it in a useful way. But the concept that it transmitted was helpful” (GP203)

Bureaucratic exercise

“It was a bureaucratic process, more than facilitating learning” (GP101)

“I only fill the learning planner in to satisfy the requirement that it’s filled in. It doesn’t actually aid my learning” (RTP3, GPT1&2 s)

“It does seem like a bit of an administrative way of proving that we’re learning something … Not so much for our sake” (RTP2, GPT3&4 s)

“Definitely is just an admin task … it’s like writing down if I ate breakfast … where does that benefit me apart from me having proof that I ate breakfast. If I studied for five hours and I spend 30 min documenting my study for five hours it’s a waste of a half-hour to me” (RTP3, GPT3&4 s)

Unsuitable for some learning styles

“Because I’m overseas graduate I’m not sure about the medical school assessment here, I’m not familiar with any log book, portfolio, but we only had the main exam as our [assessment], that’s what we target for, and I’m so I’m not familiar with these kind of assessments” (RTP1, GPT1&2 s)

“… you’re sort of forcing your learning experience to conform to something that somebody else has kind of put upon you” (GP102)

“it could be of benefit to RTPs to recognise and I’m sure they do recognise that there are different learning styles, so tying registrars to a compulsory style of learning doesn’t work for everybody” (GP204)

Questioning the need for a learning plan

“I don’t like doing the learning planner because it’s a waste of my time to try and dig out what I need to know, put it onto the system and then learn from that” (RTP3, GPT1&2 s)

“I personally feel like we just do it, you know, just as something we need to complete” (RTP1, GPT1&2 s)

“The learning planner really doesn’t inform them of anything because I could just make up a list and tick it off without looking it up, and I don’t see the function” (RTP3, GPT1&2 s)

Lack of buy-in

“… if you want me to do something give me a good reason why” (RTP2, GPT3&4 s)

“So I think for the most part it’s supposed to be something that enables you … To learn or to direct you really if you like, or give you a direction before you start, you know? But I find for most of it, it just ends up being one of those barriers where you say, ‘Okay, it’s something I’ve got to do to get over that, sort of hurdle …’ … Just do it. And so it doesn’t have that impact I think that it’s intended for, and I think most people just write what they need to get past with it” (RTP1, GPT1&2 s)

Unsuitable for adult learners

“I feel like it’s an insult to our intelligence; like you’ve gone through bloody 20 years of study plus and you know, we know how to learn, we’re not dumb” (RTP3, GPT1&2 s)

“I’m a mature aged student … and I think that learning plan—I don’t know, it made us feel real ‘schoolish’” (RTP2, GPT3&4 s)

“It doesn’t make the slightest bit of sense because either you’re a grown up learning something or you need to be asked how you feel about learning something; they are completely separate populations, so if you’ve got adult learning—if you’ve got adults you don’t need to do all of that. [group agreement]” (RTP2, GPT3&4 s)

“I’ve learnt how to organise my learning and my overall feedback to my training provider is, please just respect me and please don’t insult me as an adult learner” (GP101)

“But it’s the sort of thing where as an adult learner I can, I can plan my learning and I’ve decided this method of learning is not, is not valuable to me so I’m not going to engage in it thank you very much” (GP101)

“I think people feel a little bit babied by the whole experience” (GP203)

Does not work in practice

“Like I’ve got a plan in my head of what I’m going to do, how I’m going to do it and if the learning planner happens to intersect at points in time then I will tick them off at that point, but I don’t let the learning planner guide me at all” (RTP3, GPT1&2 s)

“… one of the questions on … their sample learning planner was, ‘how will I know when I’ve achieved that?’ And that’s a pretty difficult question to answer … you know, be able to do a good pap smear, well how do you know when you, when you’ve mastered that, like when the patient doesn’t jump up off the bed and run out flinging the speculum back at you?!” (GP102)

Exposing registrar weaknesses

“No one wants to write it down. No one wants to write down the weak spots.” (RTP3, GPT3&4 s)