Clinical/Preceptor Education (PE)
Dezsiree Gubisch Datu Khamosh, BS (she/her/hers)
Student Presenter
University of the Pacific
University of the Pacific
Concord, California
Financial Disclosures: I do not have any relevant financial relationships with anything to disclose.
Non-Financial Disclosures: I do not have any relevant non-financial relationships with anything to disclose.
Qingwen Dong, Quantitative Research Methods and Data Analysis (he/him/his)
Professor of Communication
University of the Pacific
Stockton, California
Financial Disclosures: I do not have any relevant financial relationships with anything to disclose.
Non-Financial Disclosures: I do not have any relevant non-financial relationships with anything to disclose.
Celia Zhang, AuD, PhD (she/her/hers)
Assistant Professor
University of the Pacific
University of the Pacific
Financial Disclosures: I do not have any relevant financial relationships with anything to disclose.
Non-Financial Disclosures: I do not have any relevant non-financial relationships with anything to disclose.
Fadi Najem, AuD, PhD (he/him/his)
Assistant Professor
University of the Pacific, California
Financial Disclosures: I do not have any relevant financial relationships with anything to disclose.
Non-Financial Disclosures: I do not have any relevant non-financial relationships with anything to disclose.
Covid-19 has disrupted clinical education processes in Au.D. programs and clinical settings. The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of Covid-19 on audiology clinical experiences in the U.S. 10 clinical education directors, 30 preceptors and 55 externs completed an online survey that examined changes in clinical placement procedures and clinical experiences during the pandemic. Results showed significant changes in clinical placement procedures, preceptor availability to students, and clinical experiences. This study provides educational insights regarding the challenges in clinical education during Covid-19 and ways to improve clinical experiences for students in challenging situations in the future.
Summary:
Objectives and Rationale: Covid-19 has disrupted clinical education processes in Au.D. programs and clinical settings. There is a need to evaluate the possible negative impacts of Covid-19 on the clinical experiences to adapt to changes and modify training procedures and processes in the future. The purpose of this study is to investigate 1) the impact of Covid-19 on audiology clinical experiences in the U.S. and 2) the changes in clinical education procedures during Covid-19.
Design: 10 clinical education directors, 30 preceptors and 55 externs completed an online survey that examined changes in clinical placement procedures and clinical experiences during the pandemic. The survey was distributed via social media including posting in Facebook groups and was emailed to all department chairs of audiology programs to be distributed to clinical faculty, preceptors, and externs.
Results: Results of this study showed significant changes in clinical placement procedures and clinical experiences due to the pandemic. Specifically, clinical education directors had increased difficulty in finding internship sites for students due to the decrease in available options. Preceptors had decreased availability to students and the patient load in clinics drastically decreased. Interview processes for externship largely switched to a remote option. Stress level of externs increased dramatically, but fortunately; a majority of students felt safe at their externship.
Conclusion: This study shows the significant negative impacts of Covid-19 on many aspects of clinical education in audiology including placement procedures, student experiences and stress level. It is important to learn from these insights and adapt to new methods to address these challenges in the future.