Unacceptable Behaviors Towards Health Professional Clinical Students: Protocol For a Mixed-Methods Study

Previous studies describe the occurrence of unacceptable behaviors reported by students pursuing health professional education in Aotearoa, New Zealand and across the globe. These include, but are not limited to, experiences of verbal abuse, sexual harassment, and discrimination based on race/ethnicity, religious beliefs, gender, and sexual orientation. University of Otago teaching staff across the various health professional programs often receive anecdotal reports of these phenomena from their clinical students. Our study will investigate the extent and sources of unacceptable behaviors, whether students report those events, and possible institutional responses to these behaviors.

A student codesign panel was formed alongside the research team to guide study design and data collection. This study will use a sequential two-phase mixed methods design. The first phase will include a cross-sectional survey using a modified version of a validated online questionnaire administered to all clinical students across the seven health professional programs at the University of Otago. The second phase will recruit students to participate in semi-structured interviews. Descriptive and thematic analysis will be applied.

This novel mixed-method study may offer valuable insights into the prevalence and impact of unacceptable behaviors on health professional students at the University of Otago, while ensuring student perspectives are incorporated into both the research design and the university's response strategies.