Yesterday morning, between 9am and 12.30pm local time, I and around 90 other midwives (I think) sat the exam.
The discussion at the university online forum and the fb site Graduate Diploma of Midwifery has been focused on relief. The analogy to a difficult labour has, understandably, been made.
The exam consisted of 18 questions, randomly allocated by computer for each student from a bank of questions. There were multiple choice; true/false; short answer; and 'discuss the statement' questions. I would have liked more time to complete the work - I spent more time than I should have on the early questions. There were questions on pharmacokinetics, the absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion of a drug; the therapeutic range for a drug; the changes in pregnancy when a drug is used, and what happens to the developing fetus. There were questions that brought up polypharmacy, drug-drug interactions, genetic variances in enzyme activity, and social attitudes towards medication use in pregnancy.
I have nothing to compare this exam with, as it's the first of its kind, but I felt it was a reasonable test of the knowledge that should have been acquired over the past 5 months.
As I have journalled my student experience since July 18 I have sought to look at the course, and my personal response to the challenges that it presented me with, objectively. I put these things into writing as much for my own record as anyone else's.
On the positive side of the ledger I have enjoyed learning the basics of pharmacology, and the application of pharmacology to midwifery practice. I have appreciated the challenge to work on concepts that did not come easily to my ageing brain. Visualising the microscopic processes which project molecules of drugs through the blood stream, across cell walls, and to target tissue is fascinating. Remembering and revising basic science that I studied more than 40 years ago, understanding the constant movement of ionic charge from particle to particle, considering the anatomic function of the various body organs - this has all been good. I have enjoyed it. My friend Julie who I play tennis with most Thursdays is a high school science teacher, and she helped me revise the science of water solubility.
The less than positive side of what I want to record here is the lack of teaching by the university. One tutor responded to calls for help, and presented helpful tutorials using the online webinar facility of the university. With the wisdom of hindsight, I would encourage the faculty to offer a revision course for any students who are not up to date with current undergraduate midwifery knowledge in basic pharmacology - this applies to most of those for whom the course has been offered. I think a series of lectures in the first month or so, using the webinar, would assist those students who have not studied at university in the past decade. I have spoken in person about this to the head of the faculty for this course.
The ability to prescribe is still a little way off. There is a further topic in the Graduate Diploma of Midwifery, Diagnostics and Investigations, which I will undertake in the first semester of 2013. After that I will be able to apply for endorsement as a midwife prescriber.
I am thankful to the Commonwealth of Australia for the scholarship assistance that I have received.
Thankyou for your comments
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