Martimianakis, Tina (Dr.)Nigatu, Bizuayehu2018-10-312023-11-052018-10-312023-11-052018-05http://etd.aau.edu.et/handle/123456789/13536Background: Clinical placements are of paramount importance. It assists students in acquiring the necessary competencies in terms of knowledge, skill and attitude in practical settings so that they meet the requirement for graduation. The main objective of this study was to assess challenges faced by students, instructors and technologists during the clinical placement rotation of Radiology Technology Students at four college of health science affiliated hospitals. Method: A qualitative approach using focus group discussion and semi structured interview was used to explore the experiences of students, instructors and technologists regarding challenges encountered during the clinical placements of medical radiology technology students. (22) BSc regular Radiology Technology Students in the department of radiography took part in the study from an available pool of seventy three students. Participants were arranged in three groups of 7 and 8 students. In addition, one group of 7 out of the 19 available instructors was interviewed. Two technologists from each affiliated hospitals were selected for face- to – face interviews. A categorization approach was used to analyze the data with the goal of identifying core themes representing. Results: The qualitative analysis led to the identification of nine themes from the focus group data and interviews. From the students and instructor’s point of view, “love of profession”, “transportation services”, “clinical supervision”, “theory-practice gap”, “hand on practice”, “imaging modalities”, “skill lab”, “placement area”, and “Curriculum” were considered as important factors in clinical placement experience. Conclusion: This research showed that there are many challenges encountered by both students and instructors during placement of student radiology technology for clinical practice to different college of health science affiliated hospitals. Those challenges obviously affect the futureperformances of students or the proper application of appropriate skill during their work experiences.en-USRadiology Technology StudentsThesis