Preparation for Practice: Facilitating the Transition From Student to Physician Associate

Physician Associate students find the transition from student to practitioner challenging, and universities need to adequately prepare students for clinical practice. We explored whether a simulation-based course is an effective way of preparing final year Physician Associate students for practice as a qualified clinician, with a specific focus on developing their clinical communication skills.

We piloted a new 1-day 'preparation for practice' course for Physician Associate students nearing the end of their studies. The clinical communication skills team, academics on the Physician Associate course, guest tutors and simulated patients facilitated the course which followed one patient's healthcare journey over the span of a fortnight. The session included seven simulated events: handover, patient admission, requesting a scan, responding to an adverse event, talking with a dying patient, breaking bad news to the family, as well as explaining the process of the coroner and death certificate to a family member. The final aspect of the course was an open discussion with Physician Associates working in the NHS, involving a question-and-answer session, focusing on wellbeing.

A total of 57 final year Physician Associate students attended, and we collected feedback from 56 students. All of the students rated the course content as highly useful, and 96% of students rated the quality of the course as high. Students reported increased confidence in complex clinical communication skills (p < 0.001).

A preparation for practice course, including simulation and role modelling, is an effective way to practise complex clinical communication scenarios and improve students' confidence.