Evaluating Clinical Placement Performance in Student-Led Healthcare Services: A Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Survey

Background: Student-Led Healthcare Services (SLHS) expand clinical placement capacity while providing healthcare services. However, their evaluation remains inconsistent, limiting effectiveness and integration into best practice models. Methods: A national Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices (KAP) survey was distributed to clinical educators and placement coordinators involved in SLHS across Australia. Survey items explored stakeholders’ familiarity with placement evaluation tools, perceptions of structured evaluation, and current practices. Results: Thirty-one responses were included. Findings indicated strong support for systematic evaluation but limited use of validated frameworks. Key areas such as supervision quality, student financial burden, and placement site costs were inconsistently measured. Informal, site-specific tools predominated, and research engagement within SLHS remained low. Conclusions: Evaluation practices within SLHS lack standardisation, particularly around cost and research integration. A comprehensive framework is needed to ensure educational quality and sustainability. This study supports the development of evidence-informed, multidimensional evaluation tools for SLHS.