While allied health students prefer face-to-face clinical placement, telehealth can support competency development: results from a mixed-methods study

• Published in: Frontiers in medicine 2023-05, Vol.10, p.1151980-1151980
• Main Authors: Bacon, Rachel, Hopkins, Sian, Georgousopoulou, Ekavi, Nahon, Irmina, Hilly, Catherine, Millar, CaraJane, Flynn, Allyson, Smillie, Linda, Chapman, Sarah, Brown, Nicholas
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: clinical education; COVID-19; health; Medicine; student placement; telehealth
• ISSN: 2296-858X; 2296-858X
• DOI: 10.3389/fmed.2023.1151980

Student clinical placements are a mandatory requirement within most accredited health programs. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many health settings that had traditionally provided placements cancelled their offerings. Telehealth services however, increased and emerged as an alternative placement setting. To compare the learning experiences for allied health students provided by telehealth and face-to-face accredited health placements. Health students, from a university clinic between March to December 2020, delivering both face-to-face and telehealth consultations, were invited to complete a telephone survey with 3 demographic questions; and 10-items comparing their telehealth and face-to-face learning experiences. Pearson's chi-squared/Fisher's exact test was used to examine the association between each item and consultation setting. Qualitative survey data was thematically analysed using a descriptive approach. 49 students from 2 universities and 5 disciplines completed the survey. Students rated their face-to-face experiences significantly higher than their telehealth experiences across all items (all -values