Satisfaction Level Of Simulation Experience Among Applied Medical Sciences Students: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Abstract

Purpose: Simulation techniques are considered an integral part of Applied Medical Science programs (AMS) education, and it continues to be an essential contribution to clinical practices. A few studies have examined the satisfaction of simulation experience among students from AMS specialities. The aim of this study is to evaluate the AMS student’s satisfaction with simulation-based learning.

Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted among undergraduate students in College of Applied Medical Science at King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences - Saudi Arabia during the academic year 2019-2020.  Third and fourth-year students from both Respiratory Therapy, Emergency Medical Services, and Anaesthesia Technology programs completed the Satisfaction with Simulation Experience Scale (SSE). The SSE includes 18 items for which the response is measured using a 5-point Likert- scale.

Results: A total of 255 students participated in this study from the three campuses. The majority of students were male (59%) and from Riyadh campus (77%). The overall mean scores for the SSE were 69±16 for study participants. There was a statistically significant difference in the overall mean score of the SSE scale between the three groups and it was higher in the anaesthesia group compared to the respiratory therapy control group (8.4±2.4,p=0.002). Similarly, this was observed in the three subscales of the questionnaire.

Conclusion: The finding from this study suggests that students were satisfied with simulation-based learning, although there was a difference in the satisfaction level between the three programs. Further efforts have to be directed to investigate the challenges of conducting and improving simulation sessions in AMS education.