Making the Evidence-Based Case for Clinical Site Participation in Clinical Education: An ASAHP Clinical Education Committee Project.

Background: Competition for clinical education sites is a known challenge for academic programs in allied health education with clinical sites reporting a variety of reasons for declining to participate in clinical education. In 2022, the Clinical Education Task Force (now Clinical Education Committee, CEC) of the Association of Schools Advancing Health Professions embarked on a project with the objective of creating an evidence-based resource that could be used by multiple professions to support the case for site participation in clinical education.

Methods: A literature search was conducted to identify contemporary published works on the positive impact of student clinical education placements on clinical sites. The publications were reviewed and four overarching themes were identified: students add value, productivity, preceptor perception, and patient perception.

Results: A one-page infographic was created to feature the four identified themes. A QR code embedded into the infographic links to the citations on which the themes are based.

Conclusion: The one-page resource created by the CEC can be used to frame conversations about participation in clinical education, elevating the assertion of benefits from anecdotal to published-based claims. The resource is dynamic, as it can be updated continually as new information emerges and other information becomes outdated.