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Squaring the circle: Rapid in-house placement expansion using
virtual patients during the COVID-19 pandemic
Clinical Rotations
•Aphasia
•Child with cerebral palsy
•Dysfluency (stammering)
•Motor neurone disease (MND
•Paediatric speech impairment
•Paediatric language impairment
Student feedback
Student feedback indicated that they appreciated the unique
opportunity to progress through an entire case from referral to
discharge within a two-day period. Students also valued, ‘Getting to
work closely with lecturers and benefitting from their clinical
knowledge.’
Technical difficulties, poor internet connection and increased screen-
time were seen as negative aspects of the learning experience.
However, students were able to meet their placement competencies
and progress to the next stage of the programme. ‘No face to face
client contact’ was seen as a disadvantage but overall this was
considered to be a ‘brilliant placement, given the circumstances’.
Introduction
In September 2020, three year groups of speech and
language therapy (SLT) students were due to go out on
placement. Faced with a significant shortfall of placement
offers from NHS providers, other options were explored.
One year group were allocated University-based
placements under the supervision of academic staff within
the SLT department as part of HEE clinical placement
expansion programme (CPEP)
Simulation
Clinical experiences can be replicated and successfully used
to facilitate learning, supporting students to develop both
technical knowledge and communication skills (Hill et al.,
2020; Stoneham and Feltham, 2009). Simucase is an
interactive learning platform which provides video and a
corpus of relevant clinical materials. Our students worked
in groups of four and were rotated between clinical areas
(two days per specialism). They engaged in a range of tasks
including role-play, peer feedback, assessment selection,
interpretation of assessment data, devising session plans
and therapy tasks and writing case notes.
References
Hill, A. E., Ward, E., Heard, R., McAllister, S., McCabe, P., Penman, A., … Walters, J. (2020). Simulation can replace part
of speech-language pathology placement time: A randomised controlled trial. International Journal of Speech-
Language Pathology, 0(0), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1080/17549507.2020.1722238
Simucase. (n.d.). A personalized learning platform to help you succeed. Retrieved March 5, 2021, from
https://www.simucase.com/
Stoneham, G., & Feltham, R. (2009). The Act of Dialogue: Exploring the dialogue of role play simulations as a vehicle
for learning clinical communication skills. Critical and Reflective Practice in Education, 1(1), 1–13.
Parrott, L., Pettit, E., Mallinson, A., Callard, J., Knox, P., Bates, S., Law, C., & Stewart, J.