This data also highlights the need to ensure appropriate timing of an international WIL
experience with regard to where it is situated within the undergraduate curriculum. In this
program, students experienced international WIL as part of their first emergency clinical
placement in the second year of their course, but most indicated it would be better suited the
final year of study after a domestic placement had been completed. An increasingly crowded
higher education paramedicine sector in Australasia has resulted in many programs having
limited control over the timing of clinical practica as ambulance services attempt to cope with
large student placement numbers. This situation has the potential to impact negatively on
student learning experiences by reducing the alignment of practica to the progression of the
broader curriculum and producing a disconnect between the two. This issue is of equal
concern for domestic WIL, though the more foreign surroundings and sensory inputs
inherent to international WIL may exacerbate student perceptions of this outcome.