Healthcare professions students’ experiences of international clinical placement: a qualitative study

International clinical placements are increasingly incorporated into undergraduate health professions curricula as a strategy to develop cultural competence and global perspectives. However, existing evidence is concentrated in nursing and in Western sending countries, and cross-disciplinary evidence on how students experience these placements remains limited, particularly from East Asian sending countries. This study aimed to explore the experiences of South Korean undergraduate nursing, physiotherapy, and dental hygiene students who participated in international clinical placements in English-speaking, high-income countries. A qualitative descriptive design was used. Twenty undergraduate students from nursing ( n = 10), physiotherapy ( n = 6), and dental hygiene ( n = 4) at one private South Korean university participated in four online focus group interviews, and transcripts were analysed using conventional content analysis. Three themes were identified across all three disciplines: (1) navigating cultural and linguistic challenges, (2) reconceptualising patient-centred care, and (3) developing professional competence and identity. Although all disciplines shared a common adaptive trajectory from initial disorientation to active engagement, discipline-specific manifestations were evident: nursing students’ challenges and growth centred on patient communication and holistic care, physiotherapy students’ on procedural instruction and patient participation in rehabilitation, and dental hygiene students’ on chairside reassurance and preventive education. International clinical placements operated as cross-disciplinary cultural encounters that fostered cultural awareness, critical reflection on healthcare systems, and discipline-specific professional development. Integrating structured international clinical placements into undergraduate curricula, accompanied by linguistic and reflective preparation and discipline-sensitive learning goals, may enhance the preparation of health professions students for practice in diverse and globalised healthcare environments.