Perceptions of pre-clerkship students about workplace learning in the clinical learning environment at Gulf Medical University, UAE: An exploratory study.

Abstract

Abstract Background: Medical students view clinical workplace placements as an inspiring and motivating learning environment where active student participation is pivotal to development of students’ identity. The progress from pre-clerkship to clerkship education harbours many challenges which consist of experiential learning, adjusting to the clinical environment, and understanding roles & responsibilities. Workplace learning course was recently initiated for pre-clerkship students at a medical university in UAE, which will enable their smooth entry into the clerkship phase of the curriculum. Objectives The research aims to explore students’ perceptions of various domains of their clinical learning environment (CLE), highlight the challenges they face, and extract valuable feedback to improve their environment. Methods: This study was conducted qualitatively by using focus groups method in order to explore students’ perceptions of the clinical learning environment. Two focus group discussions were conducted (n = 8 +/-10) to determine the common challenges of workplace learning and its potential solutions. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Result: The focus groups helped to deeply explore the perceptions of students about their clinical learning environment. It helped to reveal the challenges encountered by the students including the significance of proper orientation of staff and students, language barrier, availability of learning opportunities, and supervision quality. The focus groups provided worthwhile suggestions to improve the learning opportunities in the clinical learning environment. Conclusion: This study attempted to identify the pre-clerkship students’ perception of their clinical learning environment and the challenges they face over there. Possible suggestions by the students included a formal orientation for the staff and students to be carried out at the beginning. Efforts should be made by clerkship directors to provide students with learning opportunities by increasing patient exposure, encouraging participation, and providing high-quality supervision.