# How to evaluate the quality of the clinical learning environment in health professions education? Protocol of a systematic review

## TL;DR

This paper outlines a systematic review protocol to identify and evaluate tools for assessing the quality of clinical learning environments in health professions education.

## Contribution

The study introduces a structured approach to evaluate existing tools for measuring clinical learning environment quality in health education.

## Key findings

- The review will assess the psychometric properties of identified tools.
- It will summarize the characteristics and validation of each tool in a comprehensive table.
- The findings are expected to improve the quality of clinical education for health profession students.

## Abstract

Internships can constitute up to one third of the curriculum and during these internships, the foundation for developing specific health professional competencies is formed. The clinical learning environment (CLE) is a critical determinant of the overall quality of internships in health profession education, shaping students’ professional competencies and experiences.

This systematic review aims to identify and categorize assessment tools available for evaluating the quality of the CLE in health professions education.

This in the International Database of Education Systematic Reviews preregistered systematic review [IDESR000098] will consider peer-reviewed articles in English where instruments are developed and validated to illustrate the quality of the CLE in higher education health professions students. The search strategy will encompass multiple electronic databases, including MEDLINE, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library, ERIC, Education Research Complete, Education Database, and CINAHL. Studies will be independently assessed for risk of bias using the COSMIN Risk of Bias checklist for systematic reviews of PROMs. We will summarize and tabulate the basic characteristics of each identified tool and via a comprehensive table we will summarize the reported psychometric properties.

This systematic review protocol will outline a comprehensive approach to identifying and evaluating assessment tools for measuring the quality of the CLE in health profession students. It is assumed that the findings will offer several notable advantages and impacts, which could significantly influence the quality of clinical education for health profession students.