2023 Volume 3 Issue 1 Pages 3_28-3_36
Objective: This study aimed to examine the effects of clinical educators’ teaching experience on clinical clerkship in the education of physiotherapy and occupational therapy students. Methods: The participants were physiotherapy and occupational therapy students who had clinical training at four Fujita Health University Hospitals. They were divided into two groups, one (N=48) that was taught by clinical educators who had no teaching experience (CE-inexperienced group), and the other (N=49) that was taught by a clinical educator who had teaching experience (CE-experienced group). Stress status, basic skills as an apprentice, and sleep status of the two groups were compared. Results: The CE-experienced group had less stress due to interpersonal relationships and appropriateness, fewer frustrating responses, and higher satisfaction with the clinical training than the CE-inexperienced group. In contrast, regarding the sleep status, the proportion of students with “no insomnia” decreased, and the proportion of students with “mild insomnia” increased in the CE-experienced group as compared to the CE-inexperienced group. Consideration: In the clinical training provided by the experienced clinical educator, there was a reduction in the students’ stress, and their basic skills as apprentices improved. However, regarding sleep status, a certain number of students with sleep disorders remained. Therefore, this study suggests that the provision of psychological support and guidance that attend to the learning situation at home and sleep time is required.
