Preface
As with so many academic outputs, this book is the product of an incredible team of people who came together with a shared vision and mission: To help support healthcare educators build a future healthcare workforce capable of managing uncertainty. But why this topic? Why us? Why this format?
Why this topic? The authorship and editorial team recognised a significant gap in the available resources for supporting our future healthcare professionals. While many acknowledge the ever-present uncertainty within healthcare, and many more research uncertainty tolerance in healthcare practice – a framework for supporting health professions learners to develop their uncertainty tolerance through learning activities, and practical examples of such activities, was missing.
Why these editors? The editors have a program of research and practice spanning ~7 years (and counting) focusing on the role of uncertainty tolerance in higher education in two key areas: 1) Uncertainty tolerance in education; 2) Practical translation of research-informed uncertainty tolerance teaching practices. Our extensive knowledge of the literature, our numerous peer-reviewed publications, and community focused resources mean that we are able to draw on our own expertise in the area, draw from expertise in the wider field, and support translation of this research into practical applications.
Why this format? While the origins of uncertainty tolerance research appears to date back to the mid-20th century, the role of health professions education in developing learners’ uncertainty tolerance is a relatively new area of research. Furthermore, researchers are realising there are levels of nuance and complexity of the uncertainty tolerance concept that are yet to be explored. It is for these reasons that we chose a dynamic open-access textbook platform. This platform allows a reader to quickly navigate by chapter, by concept or by interest through the inclusion of hyperlinks. Additionally the format allows for interactive multi-media which lends itself well to contemporary knowledge engagement. The flexibility of this platform also means that as the field advances, we can be agile in our editing and peer review process – leading to faster knowledge dissemination and updated text versions.
