LAUSR

Background Over the past year, the occurrence of COVID-19 pandemic has challenged clinical education for health care students, due to the possibility of exposure to the virus and increased spread of the disease. Clinical training of midwifery students in gynecologic problems, based on the X(country) midwifery education curriculum, was also disrupted during this pandemic. Objectives This study was aimed at designing, implementing and evaluating a virtual clinical training protocol for midwifery internship in a Gynecology course. Design A semi-experimental study. Settings Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, X University of Medical Sciences, city, country. Participants Forty-seven midwifery interns in Gynecology course were recruited during two semesters in 2020. Methods Five steps based on the Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation (ADDIE) model were taken, which included 1) educational and skills needs assessment, 2) design, 3) development via focused group interviews and brainstorming with the presence of the midwifery department members in three sessions, 4) implementation including pretest and posttest, webinar, uploading the information of virtual patients, questions and correct answers, and 5) evaluation including knowledge assessment by a designed questionnaire and skills evaluation by the modified-Mini-CEX checklist. Data were analyzed using mean, standard deviation and paired t-test. Results After training, a significant increase (p < 0.001) was observed in scores of knowledge and interview skills, clinical judgment, consultation, efficiency, professionalism, clinical competence and total score of clinical skills. Conclusions Training for gynecological diseases through virtual clinic promoted knowledge and clinical skills of midwifery interns. To enhance education, a virtual clinic may be used in crisis situations and in combination with teaching under normal circumstances by strengthening the infrastructure and removing barriers.