Abstract
The transition into the clinical environment is challenging and associated with significant stress and anxiety. This study aimed to examine the perspectives of students on the characteristics important for preparedness for clinical learning and the influence of gender, age, and graduate status on those perspectives. This descriptive, questionnaire-based study of 62 characteristics categorised into six themes was conducted within the Surrey School of Veterinary Medicine completed by 139 students commencing their final clinical year. The Friedman test and post-hoc Wilcoxon signed rank sum test explored for differences in ranking across the themes. Ordinal logistic regression and Mann-Whitney U pairwise comparisons were utilised to investigate for effects of gender, age, and graduate status on theme ranking. There was a significant difference (P <0.05) between medians for themes of preparedness characteristics with comparisons revealing willingness and communication and interaction as the most highly rated characteristics. Knowledge and understanding were viewed as the least important characteristic. Regression and pairwise Mann-Whitney U comparisons confirmed no significant effects (P >0.05) of gender, age or graduate status on student rating of preparedness characteristics. Integrating learning opportunities of those preparedness characteristics in the pre-clinical curriculum may improve students' preparedness for the clinical environment.