Comparing challenging clinical interactions and coping strategies between medical radiation undergraduates and other health professions students: A systematic review
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Published on: March 11, 2021
J L Ago1, A Kilgour1, C L Smith1
1Discipline of Medical Radiations, School of Health and Biomedical Science, RMIT University, P.O. Box 71, Bundoora, VIC 3083, Australia.
Introduction:
This systematic review examines health professions students' experiences with challenging clinical interactions (CCIs) and their adopted coping strategies (CSs) to guide the development of appropriate support tools for medical radiation (MR) undergraduates.
Methods:
A systematic review was conducted to gather published and unpublished literature from 10 databases and Google Scholar in January 2025 and updated in July 2025. Only literature available in the English language were included without restriction to data. Included studies were assessed with the 'Quality Assessment Tool for Studies with Diverse Designs' and analysed thematically in a convergent integrative manner. This systematic review followed the 'Preferred Reporting System for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA)' 2020 guidelines.
Results:
The initial search yielded 2496 articles, 16 of which were included for meeting the eligibility criteria post de-duplication. The included studies originated from five health professions programs: nursing, medicine, dentistry, MR, and physiotherapy. Thematic analysis identified four themes relating to CCIs: navigating emotionally challenging encounters with patients and/or relatives, challenging interactions with clinical staff, adapting to the reality of the clinical environment, and interrelated challenges. In terms of CSs, three themes were found: emotional work, motivational work, and deliberations.
Conclusion:
Most of the challenges identified in MR literature were also found in the other health professional disciplines. However, there were some differences in the identified coping strategies. Learning from the non-MR literature, there is the need to educate MR undergraduates on empathetic patient care, professionalism, and to effectively prepare them for CCIs to improve their resilience.
Implications For Practice:
Further research is needed to examine how the coping strategies identified in other health professions literature, such as emotional and motivational work, can enhance help MR undergraduates manage CCIs.
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