Background
Simulation‐based learning provides students with a safe learning environment, guaranteed exposure to specific clinical scenarios and patients, time for reflection and repetition of tasks, and an opportunity to receive feedback from multiple sources. Research including studies specific to allied health training programmes have demonstrated that simulation‐based learning also helps increase learners’ confidence and reduces anxiety related to clinical environments, activities and skills. Such evidence, together with increasing challenges in provision of workplace clinical education, has supported an expansion of integrating simulation‐based learning into university curricula.
Aims
To provide detailed information about the processes and considerations involved in the development of a simulation‐based learning programme for speech–language pathology.
Methods & Procedures
Through reflection on the development process of a 5‐day simulation‐based learning programme, and in light of existing research in simulation, this paper outlines the important steps and considerations required for the development of a simulation‐based learning programme to support student competency development in adult speech pathology range of practice areas.
Main Contribution
A proposed framework for the development of future simulation‐based learning programmes in speech–language pathology.
Conclusions & Implications
The framework can be applied to simulation‐based learning for university programmes and/or workplace training in speech–language pathology and across several other health disciplines.
Speech pathology students are required to demonstrate competency across a range of practice areas. There are, however, limited opportunities for students to access clinical placements in the area of stuttering. Simulation-based learning (SBL) activities have proven to be effective in increasing students’ clinical experience in this area. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the delivery of in-person SBL programs was not feasible, resulting in a shift to online provision. The aim of this study was to investigate the perceptions of students, clinical educators and simulated patients who participated in an online adult stuttering SBL experience. Ten first-year graduate entry Masters program speech pathology students participated in the study alongside four clinical educators and four simulated patients. The experience involved two online SBL sessions and one online tutorial via videoconferencing from separate locations. Each participant group engaged in focus group interviews exploring their perceptions of the online SBL activity. Thematic network analysis of the focus group interview data was conducted. Overall interpretation of the data from the perspectives of students, clinical educators and simulated patients revealed an overarching global theme that online SBL offers a positive, comfortable and comparable experience to enable students to build client-centred, clinical and telepractice skills. The positive outcomes of this study suggest that together with in-person clinical experiences, online SBL has an important role in the education of speech pathology students.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.