Graduate School of Health Sciences, Fujita Health University, Kutsukake, Toyoake, Aichi, Japan.
Department of Rehabilitation, Kawamura Hospital, Gifu, Japan.
Work. 2024;78(2):267-277. doi: 10.3233/WOR-230167.
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected physical and occupational therapist education in various ways.
This study investigated whether the pandemic changed clinical placement, thus influencing the clinical competence of physical and occupational therapists at a hospital in Japan.
Eleven therapists (seven physical and four occupational) participated in this study in April 2021. Clinical placement teaching methods were surveyed using an online questionnaire. The Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE), comprising attitudinal and technical items, was used to examine clinical competence. The results were calculated as the sum of the attitudinal and technical scores, and the ratios of these scores to the full score were compared using a paired-sample Wilcoxon signed-rank test.
During the pandemic, some schools implemented shortened practical clinical placements. The substituted classes included online-only classes and combined online and face-to-face classes. Regarding clinical competence, scores on the OSCE were mostly high. The median proportion of the total attitudinal score to the perfect score was 100% for all three items (range-of-motion test, muscle strength test, Stroke Impairment Assessment Set). The median proportion of the total technical score to the perfect score ranged from 56.7% to 76.7% for the three items. The ratio of the total attitudinal score to the full score was significantly higher than that of the total technical score to the full score (p = 0.001).
Most clinical placements were canceled or partially administered through online learning during the pandemic. This decrease in clinical placements did not affect newly recruited physical and occupational therapists' clinical competence.
COVID-19 大流行以各种方式影响了物理治疗师和作业治疗师的教育。
本研究调查了大流行是否改变了临床实习，从而影响了日本一家医院的物理治疗师和作业治疗师的临床能力。
2021 年 4 月，11 名治疗师（7 名物理治疗师和 4 名作业治疗师）参与了这项研究。使用在线问卷调查了临床实习教学方法。使用客观结构化临床考试（OSCE）检查临床能力，包括态度和技术项目。将结果计算为态度和技术分数的总和，并使用配对样本 Wilcoxon 符号秩检验比较这些分数与满分的比值。
在大流行期间，一些学校实施了缩短的实践临床实习。替代课程包括仅在线课程和在线与面对面相结合的课程。关于临床能力，OSCE 的分数大多较高。三个项目（关节活动度测试、肌肉力量测试、中风障碍评估集）的总态度得分与满分的完美得分的中位数比例均为 100%。三个项目的总技术得分与满分的完美得分的中位数比例在 56.7%至 76.7%之间。总态度得分与满分的比值明显高于总技术得分与满分的比值（p=0.001）。
在大流行期间，大多数临床实习被取消或通过在线学习部分进行。临床实习的减少并未影响新招募的物理治疗师和作业治疗师的临床能力。
