Turkish Midwifery Students Report Practical Challenges in Online Education

Midwifery students taking practical courses through online education described a challenging, multidimensional experience, with technological problems, limited access to materials needed for practical training and insufficient opportunities to perform clinical applications. Participants also expressed concerns about transferring theoretical knowledge into practice, along with feelings of inadequacy and a lack of readiness for future clinical work. These findings came from a qualitative phenomenological study of 12 students at one university in Turkey.

Researchers used a qualitative descriptive phenomenological design to examine students’ experiences of midwifery practices in online education. They selected participants through criterion sampling, a type of purposive sampling. To be eligible, students had to have received online education for at least one month and have taken practice courses during that period. The team prepared a semi-structured interview form after reviewing the literature and seeking expert opinions. Face-to-face interviews were audio-recorded with participants’ permission, transcribed and analyzed using directed qualitative content analysis supported by descriptive analysis.

The analysis was supported by the Information-Motivation-Behavioral Skills Model as a complementary theoretical framework. Codes, categories and themes were developed from the students’ responses and then interpreted within that framework. The analysis identified problems with technological infrastructure, restricted access to practical-training materials and too few opportunities to perform clinical applications. Students were also concerned about their ability to connect theoretical knowledge with practice. The study reports these as interview findings, rather than as measured effects on clinical competence or educational outcomes.

The sample was small and drawn from a single Turkish university: 12 students who met the criteria for participation. As a qualitative study, the research was designed to characterize experiences rather than estimate how frequently the reported difficulties occur among all midwifery students. The findings do not establish that online or hybrid education necessarily causes inadequate preparation, nor do they test whether particular teaching arrangements would resolve the problems reported. Instead, the interviews document how this group of students experienced practical components of an online midwifery program.

Based on the reported barriers, the authors called for stronger practical learning opportunities in online and hybrid education models. Their proposed approaches included improved technological infrastructure, enhanced instructor support and alternative clinical learning experiences. These suggestions were not evaluated as interventions in the study, so the research does not demonstrate that any one of them would improve students’ clinical skills or professional readiness. What it does show is that the participants perceived a gap between the demands of practice-based midwifery education and the opportunities available to them through online study.

Subject of Research: Student experiences of practical midwifery education delivered online in Turkey

Article Title: Experiences in midwifery practices in online education from the student perspective: a phenomenological study

Article References: Yalçın, E., Bayraktar, E., & Bektaş, O. (2026). Experiences in midwifery practices in online education from the student perspective: a phenomenological study. BMC Medical Education. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-026-10377-6

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1186/s12909-026-10377-6

Keywords: midwifery education, online learning, distance education, clinical training, student experience, qualitative research, phenomenology, technological barriers, professional readiness, Experiences, midwifery, practices