Learning clinical procedures through Internet visual resources: a qualitative study amongst undergraduate students

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Digital Learning Resources
• Healthcare Professional Training

Background:

• Clinical procedure competency is vital for healthcare professionals.
• Internet visual resources (IVR) offer a novel method for learning clinical procedures.
• Understanding student experiences with IVR is crucial for optimizing educational strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore undergraduate students' experiences and perceptions of using IVR for learning clinical procedures.
• To identify how students utilize IVR in their academic and clinical preparation.
• To gauge student opinions on the benefits and drawbacks of IVR in healthcare education.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative study involving 31 undergraduate students from dentistry, medicine, and nursing programs.
• Six focus group discussions were conducted and transcribed.
• Thematic analysis using an inductive approach was applied to the transcribed data.

Main Results:

• Students proactively sought and used IVR for pre-clinical preparation, revision, and learning diverse procedures.
• IVR were appreciated for visual appeal, real-life case examples, accessibility, and time-saving benefits.
• Students encountered challenges with IVR quality assessment, lack of interactivity, and presentation structure, and shared resources primarily with peers.

Conclusions:

• IVR are generally perceived by clinical undergraduates as beneficial for enhancing clinical confidence and self-perceived competency.
• IVR enrich the overall learning experience and serve as a valuable supplement to the formal curriculum.
• Further investigation into optimizing IVR integration and addressing student-identified limitations is warranted.