'Misfortune Avenue': bridging the gap between theory and practice in paramedic education using Thinglink as a virtual learning platform.

Introduction: 'Thinglink' is a virtual learning platform, allowing users to upload photos and videos to create realistic online worlds. 'Misfortune Avenue' is a virtual street, where paramedic students can meet patients from clinical practice as case studies in a safe, online environment. Academic staff can support the learning of theory content from a live teaching session by mimicking real-world environments and can help design management plans to re-enact in simulation. Scenarios are designed to become more complex over three stages, with patient presentations constructively aligned against indicative content from each academic level of a paramedic science degree. The design uses scaffolding of the curriculum, allowing students to build an understanding of how an illness might progress through the longitudinal patient journey, created around various patient presentations commonly seen in paramedic practice. The scope of the platform allows interprofessional working between healthcare workers across the wider health service and encourages learning throughout the continuation of the patient journey. Methods: Phenomenography will explore how students use the virtual environment in their own ways, and focus groups will collect data from first- and second-year paramedic students to better understand whether Thinglink is useful in bridging the gap between theory and practice. The study aims to explore whether 'Misfortune Avenue' is beneficial to bridge this knowledge gap as part of the overall learning experience of students using this platform. The objectives are to understand how students are using the technology, if at all, what they are using it for and how they feel the platform can be improved for future use within the curriculum. Results: The findings will be beneficial to paramedic students and healthcare educators to inform the future development of virtual learning resources and encourage consistency across paramedic higher education programmes. The outcome of the research will create a positive impact on student experience and encourage new ways of bridging theoretical knowledge into real-world application outside of placement and simulation. Conclusions: Finding new ways to encourage learning through simulation is part of increasing contact hours through the NHS long-term workforce plan. Simulation also aims to mitigate areas of practice where presentations are less commonly seen and to enhance clinical decision making in a safe environment. The opportunities to augment this with virtual reality are also viable in future research, to create a more high-fidelity and immersive experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]