First-Year Graduate Clinicians' Perceptions of Synchronous Telepractice Delivery

Abstract

Purpose Telepractice in speech-language pathology is a continually evolving part of clinical service delivery. Despite its popularity, little evidence exists on how to educate beginning-level student clinicians in telepractice provision. The purpose of this study is to assess the perceived comfort level of first-year graduate clinicians providing telepractice services during the COVID-19 pandemic. Identifying these perceptions and potential challenges allows faculty and clinic supervisors to improve their instruction for telepractice service delivery. Method Survey data were collected from graduate clinicians ( n = 23) during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic regarding their perceptions of telepractice-based clinical service delivery. Results All student clinicians surveyed had accrued between 1 and 15 hr of telepractice hours during the Spring 2020 semester (February–May 2020). Student clinicians were largely comfortable finding evidence to support therapies, providing basic therapeutic services, and completing clinical documentation for telepractice sessions. They noted challenges in using cloud-based computing software and selecting appropriate therapeutic intervention approaches for telepractice services. Conclusion The findings from this study may provide insight into preservice training using telepractice and yield recommendations in integrating telepractice into early graduate training curricula.