Students reported the substantial variance in workload and clinical exposure, but all believed
what they experienced surpassed their general pre-placement expectations. The experiences
of the South African students were substantially different to those in New Zealand,
effectively representing two distinct clinical experiences. In particular, the South African
students reported high volumes of acute case-mix, predominantly traumatic in nature. While
each asserted that this was exactly what they expected and that they were happy to have had
that exposure, these students reported frequent feelings of ‘helplessness’ and being ‘out of
their depth’ because of the high acuity and circumstances of much of the work to which they
were exposed.