International Journal of Healthcare Simulation

Background and aim:

In recent years many Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) have recognized the benefits of Simulation Based Education (SBE) and incorporated it into their teaching programs, in some cases utilizing it to replace traditional ‘clinical placement’ hours [1]. This has been catalysed by the COVID-19 pandemic whereby there has been unprecedented demands on NHS services, forcing the industry to offer alternative placement models [2].

Aim:

To contribute to placement expansion by offering a simulation-based student placement.

Activity:

We created a six week non-clinical, simulation placement designed to host two Physiotherapy students. The overarching objective of this placement was to enable students to create and run their own simulation training session by their final week. They were based in the simulation team and networked with other students and clinicians to guide their research and planning.

We collated feedback from the students at the end of their six-week placement via anonymous, online Microsoft feedback forms.

Findings:

Throughout 2022 we ran this placement twice and collated data from the 4 Physiotherapy students, all who were in their second year of study.

Thematic analysis suggested the most common skills students felt they gained were soft skills (i.e. organization and prioritization) and development of varied communication styles. Additional themes that were mentioned included simulation specific skills. There were two areas where students felt they were unable to develop due to the placement communicating with ‘real’ patients and clinical note writing.

Students were asked to score their clinical knowledge relating to their chosen simulation topic area at the beginning and end of the placement. Scores increased from ‘Good’ (2 students) and ‘Average’ (2 students) at the beginning of the placement to ‘Good’ (1 student) and ‘Very Good’ (3 Students) at the end of the placement.

Qualitative themes suggested the students felt the overall variety of activities and exposure to clinical scenarios/teams they may not have seen before was unique to this placement and both enjoyable and valuable.

Conclusion:

Previous studies have identified misconceptions relating to the purpose of simulation and its aims [1]. Our data reflected this concept as students rated their knowledge of simulation at the beginning of the placement as ‘Very Minimal’. However, our placement offering has proven to successfully increase this awareness and offer the opportunity to develop transferable skills and clinical knowledge in a way that is both exciting and aids placement expansion whilst incurring minimal cost.

Ethics statement:

Authors confirm that all relevant ethical standards for research conduct and dissemination have been met. The submitting author confirms that relevant ethical approval was granted, if applicable.