Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36482397›Full record

ArticleBMC medical education2022

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on student experiences during rural placements in Australia: findings from a national multi-centre survey.

Priya Martin, Matthew McGrail, Jordan Fox, Remo Ostini, Zelda Doyle, Denese Playford, Jessica Beattie, Vivian Isaac, Lara Fuller, Penny Allen and 1 more

Abstract readMulticenter Study
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in BMC medical education, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors.

Priya MartinRural Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Locked Bag 9009, Toowoomba, QLD, 4350, Australia. Priya.Martin@uq.edu.au.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2092-6551
Matthew McGrailRural Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Locked Bag 9009, Toowoomba, QLD, 4350, Australia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6901-8845
Jordan FoxRural Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Locked Bag 9009, Toowoomba, QLD, 4350, Australia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8367-5297
Remo OstiniRural Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Locked Bag 9009, Toowoomba, QLD, 4350, Australia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3931-2701
Zelda DoyleRural Clinical School, School of Medicine, University of Notre Dame, Sydney, Australia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8648-1383
Denese PlayfordRural Clinical School of Western Australia, Medical Schools of UWA and Notre Dame, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5254-4905
Jessica BeattieRural Community Clinical School, School of Medicine, Deakin University, Geelong, Australia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3339-1418
Vivian IsaacCollege of Medicine and Public Health, Rural and Remote Health SA, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1525-8090
Lara FullerRural Community Clinical School, School of Medicine, Deakin University, Geelong, Australia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1678-0916
Penny AllenRural Clinical School, College of Health and Medicine, The University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1945-8049
Srinivas Kondalsamy-ChennakesavanRural Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Locked Bag 9009, Toowoomba, QLD, 4350, Australia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1333-374X

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe aim of this national study was to explore the learning experiences of Australia's medical students who trained rurally during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

methodsA cross-sectional, national multi-centre survey was conducted in 2020, through the Federation of Rural Australian Medical Educators (FRAME). Participants were medical students who had completed an extended Rural Clinical School (RCS) training placement (≥ 12 months). A bespoke set of COVID-19 impact questions were incorporated into the annual FRAME survey, to capture COVID-19-related student experiences in 2020. Pre-pandemic (2019 FRAME survey data) comparisons were also explored.

resultsFRAME survey data were obtained from 464 students in 2020 (51.7% response rate), compared with available data from 668 students in 2019 (75.6% response rate). Most students expressed concern regarding the pandemic's impact on the quality of their learning (80%) or missed clinical learning (58%); however, students reported being well-supported by the various learning and support strategies implemented by the RCSs across Australia. Notably, comparisons to pre-pandemic (2019) participants of the general RCS experience found higher levels of student support (strongly agree 58.9% vs 42.4%, p < 0.001) and wellbeing (strongly agree 49.6% vs 42.4%, p = 0.008) amongst the 2020 participants. Students with more than one year of RCS experience compared to one RCS year felt better supported with clinical skills learning opportunities (p = 0.015) and less affected by COVID-19 in their exam performance (p = 0.009).

conclusionsThis study has provided evidence of both the level of concern relating to learning quality as well as the positive impact of the various learning and support strategies implemented by the RCSs during the pandemic in 2020. RCSs should further evaluate the strategies implemented to identify those that are worth sustaining into the post-pandemic period.

Indexed as

COVID-19AustraliaCross-Sectional StudiesHumansPandemicsSchoolsClinical placementsCOVID-19 pandemicMedical educationRural placements

Identifiers

PMID36482397
PMCPMC9733068

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.