Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on clinical radiography education: perspective of students and educators from a low resource setting.

Abstract

Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic has had significant impact on clinical radiography educational activities including teaching, research, and clinical placement. The study aimed to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on clinical radiography education in a low-resource setting from the perspectives of students and educators. Methods A cross-sectional online survey was conducted between December 2020 and March 2021. Participants included student radiographers and educators from six clinical radiography training institutions in Ghana. Conventional descriptive statistics, frequency, and thematic text analysis were undertaken. Results 291 valid responses were received involving 277 students and 14 educators. Most of the respondents, predominantly students did not find the online platforms for learning user-friendly. Key challenges to clinical radiography training during the pandemic included poor internet connectivity (73.8%), inadequate time for academic discussions (50.9%), and the reluctance of health facilities to accept students for clinical placement (51%). Challenges with data collection and the provision of supervision were issues associated with research activities. Discussion The findings suggest the COVID-19 pandemic has had significant impact on clinical radiography education in Ghana and other countries of similar resource availability. Conclusion Clinical radiography training institutions need to customize approaches to education. Adopting blended learning approaches as well as the use of simulation to augment practical placement opportunities are new modes of instruction that will maximize learning experience.