The Impact of COVID-19 on First-Year Undergraduate Nuclear Medicine Students’ Practical Skills Training

Clinical placement is an important component of any undergraduate nuclear medicine program. For first-year students, it is an introduction to clinical nuclear medicine, which helps them better understand the profession as well as consolidate their learning to date. Clinical placements for first-year students usually take the form of 2 wk of full-time attendance at a nuclear medicine site. At the University of Newcastle, in Australia, part of the clinical placement course includes radiopharmacy laboratory sessions in a simulated environment to develop necessary skills and confidence. Because of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, restrictions were put in place that meant cancelling clinical placements for first-year students and reducing time in the radiopharmacy laboratory from 2 h to 1 h per session. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether a clinical alternative portfolio in lieu of clinical placement was effective in increasing the students’ knowledge and skills in nuclear medicine practice and whether specifically developed instructional videos for preparation of the radiopharmacy laboratory sessions compensated for the reduced time. Methods: A paper-based survey was given to the 50 students enrolled in the first-year professional practice course. This survey, containing 56 questions, consisted of both open questions and closed Likert-scale questions about the changes to the radiopharmacy laboratory sessions and the clinical alternative portfolio in 2 separate sections. Quantitative and qualitative analysis was performed on the resulting data. Results: There was a 94% response rate to the survey. Most students watched the preparatory radiopharmacy videos at least once and strongly agreed that each video adequately prepared them for the associated laboratory session. Just over half (51%) the students thought the reduced time in the laboratory was sufficient to complete the required tasks. Most students agreed that the modules included in the clinical alternative portfolio increased their knowledge of nuclear medicine practice. Conclusion: Despite the restrictions put in place because of COVID-19, the learning outcomes of the first-year nuclear medicine professional practice course were met. The preparatory videos for the radiopharmacy laboratory sessions and the clinical alternative portfolio were positively received and gave the students a good introduction to clinical nuclear medicine.