Press release

The rollercoaster ride of Covid and its impact on healthcare graduates

Published on 30 September 2022

Healthcare graduates from the University of Dundee have shared their experiences of how the Covid-19 pandemic impacted their transitions from student to practice in a new comic

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Artwork by Clio Ding

The pandemic was a bumpy ride for most, especially for medicine, nursing and dentistry graduates who were due to graduate in 2020. While people up and down the country had to transition to a new way of living, new healthcare graduates were faced with extra pressures and uncertainties.

Produced by Dundee researchers, The Covid Rollercoaster: Multiple and Multi-dimensional Transitions of Healthcare Graduates is a 16-page publication filled with images and stories influenced by the experiences of doctor, nurse, and dentist graduates throughout the pandemic.

The purpose of the research, funded by Tenovous Scotland, was to identify how ongoing support can be provided to healthcare graduates for successful transitions and wellbeing in times of unanticipated change.

The research findings and comic were officially launched at a seminar event on 28 September.

The project was led by Divya Jindal-Snape, Professor of Education, Inclusion and Life Transitions at the University, who said, “We were aware of the difficulties that graduates from those three disciplines were facing at that time, and the different experiences they had.

“On one hand, we had some healthcare students who graduated early to aid the fight against Covid, while others had their graduation deferred for a year due to lack of clinical practice. We wanted to know the impact Covid had on not only their graduate transitions, but also their wellbeing and personal and professional life transitions.

“We collected the data from the graduates at three different time points to show how their transitions and wellbeing was changing over time, and that has been brought into the comics. The comics take us on a journey and help us understand the stresses and tensions being faced, but also their achievements and the support networks these graduates relied on.

“The research and comics are extremely valuable in helping us to capture their multiple and multi-dimensional transitions, using my Multiple and Multi-dimensional Transitions (MMT) Theory, and to present it in an engaging and accessible form through a comic anthology and infographic, with potential for impact on policy and practice.”

MMT Theory proposes that each individual experiences multiple transitions at the same time in multiple contexts and domains, and that their transitions can trigger transitions for the people around them. For example, an individual can experience transitions at both home and at work, meanwhile experiencing educational and/or psychological transitions, which can then bring about transitions for significant others.

At the same time, significant others will be experiencing their own transitions. These mutual interactions between individual and significant others lead to an almost ongoing ripple effect across the ecosystem, highlighting the multi-dimensional nature of the theory.

Enquiries

Jessica Rorke

Media Relations Officer

+44 (0)1382 388878

jrorke001@dundee.ac.uk
Story category Research, Staff