Academic, clinical and personal experiences of undergraduate healthcare students during the COVID-19 pandemic: A prospective cohort study

Abstract

Background Coronavirus disease 2019 has impacted upon the role and safety of healthcare workers, with the potential to have a lasting effect on their wellbeing. Limited research has been conducted during previous pandemics exploring how student healthcare workers are impacted as they study and train for their professional careers. Objective The aim of the current study was to examine the specific impact of COVID-19 on the academic, clinical and personal experiences of healthcare students. Method Undergraduate students across three year groups within the School of Health Sciences at Ulster University completed online Qualtrics surveys at three timepoints during one academic year (2020/2021). Quantitative survey data was downloaded from Qualtrics into SPSS Version 25 for descriptive analysis of each cross-sectional sample. Qualitative survey data was downloaded into text format, which was thematically analysed using content analysis. Results 412 students completed the survey at Time 1 (October 2020), n = 309 at Time 2 (December 2020) and n = 259 at Time 3 (April 2021). Academically, the pandemic had mostly a negative impact on the learning environment, the development of practical skills, the assessment process and opportunities for peer learning and support. Students reported increased stress and challenges managing their workload and maintaining a sense of motivation and routine. Clinically, they felt unprepared by the university for placement where the pandemic had an increasingly negative impact over time on learning and skill development. In terms of personal experiences, despite the majority of students taking steps to keep physically and mentally well, negative impacts on friendships, mental wellbeing and concerns for family were reported. The pandemic had not impacted upon career choice for most students. Conclusion Consideration must be given to the development of practical skills so students feel prepared for their professional careers given the practical nature of their roles. Programme coordinators should adopt a holistic approach to student wellbeing.

The impact of social support and emotion dysregulation on COVID-19 depressive symptoms

“…Participants accessed the survey using a link to Qualtrics. Qualtrics has been used in several COVID-19-related studies (Czeisler et al, 2021 ; Johnson, 2021 ; McFadden et al, 2022 ). First, informed consent was obtained via Qualtrics.…”

Creativity is Not Related to Higher Cognitive Functioning: An Exploration Among Healthcare Professionals and Students During the Covid-19 Omicron Wave

“…Given that healthcare professionals played a key role in the treatment of COVID-19 cases and healthcare students contributed to the healthcare workforce as part of their clinical placements (McFadden et al, 2022;Whitfield et al, 2020), it is imperative to examine the effects of the COVID-19 Omicron wave on them. Further, burnout has been associated with deficits in three main cognitive functions (executive functions, attention, and memory) (Deligkaris et al, 2014), while depressive symptomatology is considered to be linked to deficits in different aspects of cognition (Goodall et al, 2018).…”

Comparison of Academic Motivation between Business and Healthcare Students in Online Learning: A Concurrent Nested Mixed-Method Study

“…Unsurprisingly online students’ intrinsic motivation for asynchronous learning was higher than for synchronous learning, relating to a sense of autonomy [ 19 ]. These challenges were intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic: many students’ duties outside the curriculum have increased (e.g., deployment to hospital, obscured boundary between study and life [ 20 ], making it hard for them to stay motivated to study [ 21 , 22 ]. The forced transition to online learning was experienced positively by healthcare students who were undertaking desk-based learning [ 23 ], whereas those in clinical practice experienced it negatively as their practice was interrupted [ 24 ]…”