First-Year Graduate Clinicians' Perceptions of Synchronous Telepractice Delivery

Abstract

Purpose: Telepractice in speech-language pathology is a continually evolving part of clinical service delivery. Despite its popularity, little evidence exists on how to educate beginning-level student clinicians in telepractice provision. The purpose of this study is to assess the perceived comfort level of first-year graduate clinicians providing telepractice services during the COVID-19 pandemic. Identifying these perceptions and potential challenges allows faculty and clinic supervisors to improve their instruction for telepractice service delivery. Method: Survey data were collected from graduate clinicians (n = 23) during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic regarding their perceptions of telepractice-based clinical service delivery. Results: All student clinicians surveyed had accrued between 1 and 15 hr of telepractice hours during the Spring 2020 semester (February--May 2020). Student clinicians were largely comfortable finding evidence to support therapies, providing basic therapeutic services, and completing clinical documentation for telepractice sessions. They noted challenges in using cloud-based computing software and selecting appropriate therapeutic intervention approaches for telepractice services. Conclusion: The findings from this study may provide insight into preservice training using telepractice and yield recommendations in integrating telepractice into early graduate training curricula.