Superhuman? Perceptions of accelerated students and graduates working in health care

SummaryBackground rated university courses were developed in response to consumer demand and educational advances, yet a lack of research exists related to the impact of accelerated health care courses in the United Kingdom. ives tudy explored cliniciansʹ perceptions of accelerated pre-registration courses in physiotherapy. clinicians were recruited by purposive sampling from several National Health Service hospitals across northeast England. Data from face-to-face semi-structured interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis. gs gs from fourteen participants indicated their admiration of accelerated students’ attributes to complete what they considered to be an intense and in-depth course. Such graduates were described as ‘superhuman.’ Participants noted that accelerated graduates were likely to ‘hit the ground running’ in clinical settings. However, concerns were raised that some accelerated graduatesʹ over-confidence affected team dynamics and/or affected some aspects of clinical reasoning. sions ipants valued the varied routes to graduation while recognising their strengths and limitations. Findings from the study suggested the need for different types of clinical supervision to support each route.