Rural Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Toowoomba, QLD 4350, Australia.
Cunningham Centre, Darling Downs Health, Toowoomba, QLD 4350, Australia.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 May 3;19(9):5555. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19095555.
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused significant disruptions to healthcare student placements worldwide, including already challenged rural areas in Australia. While accounts are emerging of student experiences in larger centers and from a student perspective, there is a need for in-depth exploration of student supervisor experiences in rural areas at the onset of the pandemic. This study aims to address this gap through 23 individual, semi-structured interviews with healthcare workers from ten health professions who were either direct student supervisors or in roles supporting student supervisors A reflexive thematic analysis approach was used to develop four themes, namely compounding stress, negative impacts on student learning, opportunity to flex and innovate, and targeted transitioning support strategies. The findings indicate that healthcare workers with student supervision responsibilities at the onset of the pandemic experienced high levels of stress and wellbeing concerns. This study sheds light on the importance of supporting student supervisors in rural areas, and the need for implementing targeted support strategies for new graduates whose placements were impacted by the pandemic. This is not only essential for supporting the rural healthcare workforce but is also imperative for addressing inequalities to healthcare access experienced in rural communities.
新型冠状病毒肺炎疫情（COVID-19 pandemic）已导致全球各地的医学生实习 placements 受到严重干扰，包括澳大利亚本来就面临挑战的农村地区。虽然人们已经开始从较大中心和学生角度来讲述学生的经历，但需要深入探讨疫情初期农村地区学生导师的体验。通过对来自十个医疗保健专业的 23 名医护人员进行的 23 次单独半结构化访谈，本研究旨在解决这一差距。这些医护人员的角色包括直接学生导师或支持学生导师的角色。采用反思性主题分析方法，提出了四个主题，即压力加剧、对学生学习的负面影响、灵活创新的机会以及有针对性的过渡支持策略。研究结果表明，疫情初期有学生监督职责的医护人员承受着较高的压力和健康问题的困扰。本研究强调了支持农村地区学生导师的重要性，以及为受疫情影响placement 的新毕业生实施有针对性支持策略的必要性。这不仅对支持农村医疗保健劳动力至关重要，而且对于解决农村社区在获得医疗保健方面的不平等问题也至关重要。
