There is a noted global challenge with finding clinical placements to provide high quality learning opportunities for undergraduate healthcare students.To remedy the challenge, alternative methods of teaching such as simulated patients(SPs) were introduced. Using SPs as a method of teaching and learning aims to facilitate active engagement from the students through interacting with the SPs when practicing the skills taught and demonstrated by the lecturer, with the overall goal being to help the students develop effective clinical skills and attitudes in line with the Minimum Standards for the Education of Occupational Therapists.
A scoping review will be conducted for phase 1, and a qualitative design will be applied in phases 2 and 3 of the study.
The objectives of the study are to: conduct a scoping review to explore available guidelines used to train simulated patients in the health care sciences professions, explore the perspectives of the relevant stakeholders (lecturers, students and simulated patients) on the use of SPs in the teaching and learning process in the undergraduate occupational therapy programme and develop training guidelines for Simulated Patients in Occupational Therapy.
The proposed study will allow the researcher to develop guidelines that are specific to occupational therapy when training SPs to teach and evaluate undergraduate students core clinical skills.
The training guidelines will ensure there is consistency in how the SPs are prepared for roles they are expected to portray during the teaching of occupational therapy students at a university in Tshwane, South Africa.