Partnerships for clinical learning: A collaborative initiative to support medical imaging technology students and their supervisors

• Learning partnerships within a clinical setting support students' learning.
• An online platform can provide online support when face-to-face support is not possible.
• Learning partnerships can enhance MITs' practice.

IntroductionThe involvement of practitioners in the teaching and supervision of medical imaging technology students is central to students' learning. This article presents an overview of a learning partnership initiative, reinforced by an online platform to support students' learning and their medical imaging technologist supervisors' (MITs) teaching within a clinical learning environment in a New Zealand context.MethodologyData were generated through a series of fourteen collaborative action research focus group meetings with MITs and student MITs.ResultsThe findings revealed that a robust relationship between a student and their MIT partner gave students an ‘anchor’ for learning and a sense of belonging. The online platform supported the relationship and provided an effective means for communication between students and their MIT partners. The relationship was not one-directional as it also supported the enhancement of MITs' practice.ConclusionsThe recommendations from the study suggest learning partnerships between MITs and student MITs will be valuable in supporting teaching and learning respectively. MITs need to be better supported in their teaching role to enable them to make a greater investment in students' learning. A redistribution of funding for clinical education needs to be considered to support the MITs' central role in teaching medical imaging students.