Assessment of Radiography Students’ Clinical Competence at University of Lagos, South West Nigeria

Clinical competence assessment in radiography education determines students' readiness for professional practice and identifies areas requiring additional clinical exposure before graduation. The quality and consistency of clinical competency assessment at the University of Lagos Department of Radiography and Radiation Sciences has implications for graduate preparedness and patient safety standards in South West Nigeria. This study assesses the clinical competence of radiography students at the University of Lagos using validated assessment tools across core imaging modalities. A cross-sectional design is employed, assessing 75 final-year radiography students across six clinical competency domains: patient communication, equipment operation, positioning technique, radiation protection, image quality assessment, and emergency response. The OSPE (Objective Structured Practical Examination) format is used, supplemented by clinical supervisor rating scales from placement supervisors at affiliated teaching hospitals. Descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation between clinical placement hours and competency scores are computed in SPSS. Available radiography clinical education literature from South West Nigeria identifies positioning technique and patient communication as the competency domains showing the widest inter-student variability, reflecting differences in clinical placement site quality and supervision consistency. The EFRS European Qualifications Framework for Radiography and the NRBN clinical training standards provide the evaluative benchmarks. Findings are expected to identify patient communication and emergency response as the weakest competency areas. Recommendations address structured clinical objective-setting, standardised placement supervisor training, and increased simulation-based clinical preparation at the University of Lagos radiography programme. Keywords: clinical competence, radiography students, OSPE, University of Lagos, South West Nigeria.