Clinical education requires students to integrate theoretical knowledge and skills into real-life clinical environments. Most clinical education opportunities remain within metropolitan hospitals where student education is often secondary to patient care. In response, many Universities are developing student-led clinics that focus on the student educational experience, whilst providing high-quality patient care. Understanding factors associated with student satisfaction within student-led physiotherapy clinics, particularly in regional areas, is necessary to build the regional and rural workforce. Thirty-eight students from a 3 rd and 4 th year Bachelor of Physiotherapy (Hons) undergraduate degree completed written open-ended student feedback at the completion of a five-week placement within a student-led allied health clinic in Rockhampton, Queensland between 2018 and 2019. These data were collected as feedback for the clinic and were not related to course evaluations. All responses were then transformed into one document per question and analysed following an inductive approach and semantic thematic analysis. Using thematic analysis, five key themes were identified to impact student satisfaction: 1) clinical educators and clinic staff; 2) feedback to students; 3) professional development opportunities; 4) low patient numbers and a lack of clinical presentations; and 5) facilities, equipment, and resources. This study has identified several key factors associated with positive and negative student satisfaction within a regional student-led physiotherapy clinic. Implementing factors associated with positive student satisfaction will likely enhance student learning experience and improve the clinical placement experience, potentially improving recruitment opportunities in a regional setting.

The study aimed to quantify the clinical activity profile of physiotherapy students within a regional student-led musculoskeletal clinic. A retrospective clinical audit examined all occasions of service (OOS) delivered during 2018. Demographic data and student to clinical educator (CE) ratio were also collected. Descriptive statistics were used to describe patient demographics. The average OOS per student per week between student to CE ratios (i.e., 2:1 and 3:1 group) were analysed using a repeated measures ANOVA. A total of 214 clients were included (mean age 40.9 years (SD 20.4) with 66.5% being female (n = 133)). The shoulder (19.3%) was the most assessed/treated region, followed by the knee (18.9%), and ankle/foot (16.2%). Analysis revealed a main effect of week (p<0.001), but not for student to CE ratio (p=0.125). There was no interaction of week by student to CE ratio (p=0.528). Post hoc analysis revealed the average OOS per student per week was lower for week 1 than in weeks 2, 3, and 4, with a small but statistically significant decrease in average OOS from week 4 to 5. Overall, students attending a regional student-led musculoskeletal clinic see a variety of clinical presentations, from clients across the lifespan, with increasing OOS across the placement.