A one-week simulated clinical placement for novice physiotherapy students.

Aim: To explore student experience and learning in a simulated clinical placement for novice physiotherapy students. Methods: A 1-week simulated clinical placement was designed to enable the students to meet the learning outcomes for their first clinical placement. Students' performance was assessed...

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Published in:Physiotherapy Practice & Research Vol. 46; no. 2; pp. 111 - 120
Main Authors: O'Shea, Orlagh, Heery, Helen, Horgan, Frances, Daly, Fiona, Malone, Ailish, Keating, Louise, French, Helen P, Stephenson, Aoife, Eppich, Walter, Dennis, Diane, McDonough, Suzanne
Format: research tables/charts Journal Article
Published: Sage Publications Inc. Aug2025
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
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      dt: Aug2025
      vid: 46
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      pub: Sage Publications Inc.
      place: Thousand Oaks, California
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        atl: A one-week simulated clinical placement for novice physiotherapy students.
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          O'Shea, Orlagh
          Heery, Helen
          Horgan, Frances
          Daly, Fiona
          Malone, Ailish
          Keating, Louise
          French, Helen P
          Stephenson, Aoife
          Eppich, Walter
          Dennis, Diane
          McDonough, Suzanne
        affil: School of Physiotherapy, RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Dublin, Ireland
      sug:
        subj:
          Student Placement
          Education, Clinical
          Simulations
          Students, Physical Therapy
          Student Experiences Evaluation
          Confidence Evaluation
          Learning Evaluation
          Outcomes of Education
          Human
          Multimethod Studies
          Focus Groups
          Thematic Analysis
          Student Orientation
          Feedback
          Teaching Methods
          Student Performance Appraisal
          Descriptive Statistics
          Models, Anatomic
          Data Analysis Software
          Pretest-Posttest Design
          Random Sample
          Audiorecording
          Confidence Intervals
          Clinical Competence
          Skill Acquisition
          Patient Safety
          Professionalism
          Documentation
          Communication
          Questionnaires
          Male
          Female
          Male
          Female
      ab: Aim: To explore student experience and learning in a simulated clinical placement for novice physiotherapy students. Methods: A 1-week simulated clinical placement was designed to enable the students to meet the learning outcomes for their first clinical placement. Students' performance was assessed using the Common Assessment Form (CAF), a nationally standardised tool. Students' confidence was assessed. A sample of students were invited to participate in focus groups. Focus groups were analysed using King's Template analysis based on four themes identified a priori: (1) Orientation, (2) Simulation environment, (3) Feedback and debriefing and (4) Instructional design. Results: Twenty-nine students participated in the simulated placement. All students met the learning outcomes. Students' confidence improved from mean (standard deviation) 35.2 (6.2) to 40.1 (10.0), p -value 0.04. Students felt they could have been better orientated to the simulated environment, and they did enjoy the experience and found the simulation environment non-threatening. There was important feedback on the design of the simulated placement which should be considered for future iterations of the programme. Conclusion: A 1-week simulated clinical placement for novice physiotherapy students can enable them to meet their learning outcomes. Future research should focus on developing validated outcome measures to evaluate simulation in physiotherapy education.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype:
        research
        tables/charts
        Journal Article
      ougenre: Article
    language: English
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