How are alternative clinical placements performed compared to traditional clinical placements during the COVID-19 pandemic? sought through a systematic review and meta‑analysis
Clinical placement is the essential method of learning in health professions education, but it has been the most disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Institutions of higher education resorted to alternative learning such as telehealth, simulations, and blended-learning for clinical placement to ensur...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Springer
2024
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| Online Access: | http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/115530/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/115530/1/115530.pdf |
| _version_ | 1848866801235001344 |
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| author | Romli, Muhammad Hibatullah Wan Yunus, Farahiyah Adam, Siti Khadijah Salihan, Safuraa |
| author_facet | Romli, Muhammad Hibatullah Wan Yunus, Farahiyah Adam, Siti Khadijah Salihan, Safuraa |
| author_sort | Romli, Muhammad Hibatullah |
| building | UPM Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Clinical placement is the essential method of learning in health professions education, but it has been the most disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Institutions of higher education resorted to alternative learning such as telehealth, simulations, and blended-learning for clinical placement to ensure that educational activities continue without delay. However, this raises questions about student competency and necessitates making up for missed in-person hours. A thorough investigation of the effectiveness of alternative clinical placement learning is required. A systematic searching was conducted on ten electronic databases, and the quality of the included articles was assessed using the Medical Education Research Study Quality Instrument (MERSQI). A meta-analysis was conducted by pooling studies with examination mark outcomes. Twenty-four articles were included in the systematic review and nine were included in the meta-analysis. The average MERSQI score for included studies is 11.15. Outcomes on student performance favor alternative placement, whereas perceived-based outcomes have mixed results and are slightly prone to traditional clinical placement. Meta-analysis indicates that alternative learning is either more effective than traditional clinical placement or at least on par with it. There is a discrepancy between perceived outcome and performance assessment regarding the utility of alternative learning to conventional clinical placement. Nonetheless, objective measurement outcomes and the meta-analysis support alternative learning as a reliable learning strategy for clinical education. Alternative learning for clinical placement experience can be improved further by adding more synchronous sessions, and implementing various learning methods, learning activities based on strong instructional design, and at least a short real-setting attachment. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-15T14:26:22Z |
| format | Article |
| id | upm-115530 |
| institution | Universiti Putra Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-15T14:26:22Z |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| publisher | Springer |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | upm-1155302025-04-21T02:51:48Z http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/115530/ How are alternative clinical placements performed compared to traditional clinical placements during the COVID-19 pandemic? sought through a systematic review and meta‑analysis Romli, Muhammad Hibatullah Wan Yunus, Farahiyah Adam, Siti Khadijah Salihan, Safuraa Clinical placement is the essential method of learning in health professions education, but it has been the most disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Institutions of higher education resorted to alternative learning such as telehealth, simulations, and blended-learning for clinical placement to ensure that educational activities continue without delay. However, this raises questions about student competency and necessitates making up for missed in-person hours. A thorough investigation of the effectiveness of alternative clinical placement learning is required. A systematic searching was conducted on ten electronic databases, and the quality of the included articles was assessed using the Medical Education Research Study Quality Instrument (MERSQI). A meta-analysis was conducted by pooling studies with examination mark outcomes. Twenty-four articles were included in the systematic review and nine were included in the meta-analysis. The average MERSQI score for included studies is 11.15. Outcomes on student performance favor alternative placement, whereas perceived-based outcomes have mixed results and are slightly prone to traditional clinical placement. Meta-analysis indicates that alternative learning is either more effective than traditional clinical placement or at least on par with it. There is a discrepancy between perceived outcome and performance assessment regarding the utility of alternative learning to conventional clinical placement. Nonetheless, objective measurement outcomes and the meta-analysis support alternative learning as a reliable learning strategy for clinical education. Alternative learning for clinical placement experience can be improved further by adding more synchronous sessions, and implementing various learning methods, learning activities based on strong instructional design, and at least a short real-setting attachment. Springer 2024-04-11 Article PeerReviewed text en http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/115530/1/115530.pdf Romli, Muhammad Hibatullah and Wan Yunus, Farahiyah and Adam, Siti Khadijah and Salihan, Safuraa (2024) How are alternative clinical placements performed compared to traditional clinical placements during the COVID-19 pandemic? sought through a systematic review and meta‑analysis. Medical Science Educator, 34. pp. 927-947. ISSN 2156-8650 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40670-024-02037-5?error=cookies_not_supported&code=f7126ddf-c1da-408b-bd39-3f491d8dfe37 10.1007/s40670-024-02037-5 |
| spellingShingle | Romli, Muhammad Hibatullah Wan Yunus, Farahiyah Adam, Siti Khadijah Salihan, Safuraa How are alternative clinical placements performed compared to traditional clinical placements during the COVID-19 pandemic? sought through a systematic review and meta‑analysis |
| title | How are alternative clinical placements performed compared to traditional clinical placements during the COVID-19 pandemic? sought through a systematic review and meta‑analysis |
| title_full | How are alternative clinical placements performed compared to traditional clinical placements during the COVID-19 pandemic? sought through a systematic review and meta‑analysis |
| title_fullStr | How are alternative clinical placements performed compared to traditional clinical placements during the COVID-19 pandemic? sought through a systematic review and meta‑analysis |
| title_full_unstemmed | How are alternative clinical placements performed compared to traditional clinical placements during the COVID-19 pandemic? sought through a systematic review and meta‑analysis |
| title_short | How are alternative clinical placements performed compared to traditional clinical placements during the COVID-19 pandemic? sought through a systematic review and meta‑analysis |
| title_sort | how are alternative clinical placements performed compared to traditional clinical placements during the covid-19 pandemic? sought through a systematic review and meta‑analysis |
| url | http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/115530/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/115530/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/115530/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/115530/1/115530.pdf |