Clients and conditions encountered by final year physiotherapy students in private practice. A retrospective analysis

"This patient is not appropriate": Perspectives of physiotherapy students and clinical educators on exposing students to patients with complex needs during clinical practice placements

BACKGROUND

Clinical practice placements play an important role in preparing students for challenging areas of clinical practice. Little is known about student learning needs for working with patients with complex needs during clinical practice placements, and clinical educator decision-making that underpins this exposure.

PURPOSE

To explore the perspectives of physiotherapy students and clinical educators on exposing students to working with and learning from patients with complex needs during clinical practice placements across Queensland and New South Wales, Australia.

METHODS

Six semi-structured focus groups with pre-registration physiotherapy students undertaking clinical practice placements (n = 19) and semi-structured one-on-one interviews with clinical educators (n = 20). Data were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis.

RESULTS

Four overarching themes were generated following analysis: 1) Complexity is challenging; 2) Tension between student exposure and patient care; 3) Variance in expectations; and 4) Readiness for complexity.

CONCLUSION

Physiotherapy students and clinical educators recognize the challenges and importance of exposure to patients with complex needs. Student learning experiences are influenced by clinical educator decision-making, which is often unclear, leading to varying opportunities. This study highlights the need for enhanced support from clinical educators to prepare students for working with patients with complex needs.

Orchard Sports Injury and Illness Classification System (OSIICS) Version 15

BACKGROUND

Sports medicine (injury and illnesses) requires distinct coding systems because the International Classification of Diseases is insufficient for sports medicine coding. The Orchard Sports Injury and Illness Classification System (OSIICS) is one of two sports medicine coding systems recommended by the International Olympic Committee. Regular updates of coding systems are required.

METHODS

For Version 15, updates for mental health conditions in athletes, sports cardiology, concussion sub-types, infectious diseases, and skin and eye conditions were considered particularly important.

RESULTS

Recommended codes were added from a recent International Olympic Committee consensus statement on mental health conditions in athletes. Two landmark sports cardiology papers were used to update a more comprehensive list of sports cardiology codes. Rugby union protocols on head injury assessment were used to create additional concussion codes.

CONCLUSION

It is planned that OSIICS Version 15 will be translated into multiple new languages in a timely fashion to facilitate international accessibility. The large number of recently published sport-specific and discipline-specific consensus statements on athlete surveillance warrant regular updating of OSIICS.