Clinical education forms an important and distinct part of all healthcare education. [1] In clinical education the student refines the knowledge, skills, values, attitudes and philosophies of the profession that she/he has learnt in the classroom or skills laboratories. [2] Clinical education provides the situation, task and human complexities necessary to integrate prior learning and a context for new learning. Clinical education is a multidimensional and complex process whereby students aim to reach entry-level clinical competence in real-time clinical practice. [3] It is reported that in clinical education students come to appreciate their role as healthcare providers with specific roles and responsibilities. [5] This central role as healthcare provider may integrate elements of other roles that form part of graduate attributes, such as collaborator, communicator, health advocate, etc. [5,6] As first-line practitioners it is important that newly qualified physiotherapists can demonstrate general competence and a range of abilities that will allow them to function satisfactorily and safely in their professional role. To reach this goal the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) requires that students are placed in a variety of clinical areas for a minimum of 1 000 hours over a 4-year training period. [7] At Stellenbosch University (SU), physiotherapy students gain their first exposure to clinical practice in the second year of the 4-year degree course. From their third year of study they take responsibility for patient management as part of their clinical training. The creation of optimal learning opportunities for students to obtain the necessary clinical skills forms an integral part of the undergraduate programme and can be seen to facilitate the development of graduate attributes. [5] The integration of theory into the real-world environment is recognised as a primary purpose of clinical education. [8] Ideally this process should also incorporate an interdisciplinary and holistic approach to healthcare. [9] However, the complexity of healthcare systems, rapid change in service provision, financial constraints and demands of accountability are increasingly being recognised as impacting on the learning opportunities that can be provided. [3] Several factors have been identified as playing a role in the clinical learning experience. These include the model of clinical education used, [2] clinical educator attributes, [10] teaching methods used by the clinical educator, [11] student assessment, [11] and the atmosphere, facilities and safety at the healthcare setting. [1] Kilminster and Jolly [12] found that the environment in which learning takes place profoundly affects what is learned and the students' responses to learning. As the students' learning occurs in the context of clinical practice, the clinical environment is also identified as the best area to facilitate the skills and attitudes needed. [3] National Core Standards for health establishments have been developed by the national Departmen...
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