Physiotherapy Students’ Expectations of Their First Clinical Internship: A Qualitative Study.

Abstract

Abstract Background. Physiotherapy students’ expectations of their first clinical education year can be over- or under-estimated. Expectations are related to motivational aspects of behaviour as well as satisfaction, so they may have some influence on academic performance. Objective. The aim of this study is to describe physiotherapy students’ expectations related to their first clinical internship. Methods. Qualitative, exploratory study. Participants included physiotherapy students prior to initiating their first clinical internship. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews. The data were analysed using thematic analysis, as proposed by Braun and Clarke. The study protocol was approved by the University of Valencia Ethics Committee of Human Research. Results. This study included 12 students (six being women; average age 24.2±8.4 years), which was sufficient to reach data saturation. We identified 12 subcategories within five categories: i) perceived meaning of practical training, ii) reference figure during clinical internship, iii) Emotions felt in the first practical training sessions, iv) the easiest and most difficult part of practical training sessions, and v) clinical placement selection factors. Conclusions. The study has provided detailed explanation of the students’ perceived meaning of the practical training being demonstrated that students gave a real significance to the clinical internship. Positive and negative emotions were present combined with a great enthusiasm to achieve their positives expectations. There was a substantial alignment between expectations of physiotherapy students before their first clinical internshipand the reality, which had a positive impact on their practical learning.