Faculty of Health Sciences and Medicine

Master of Occupational Therapy Practice Education manual Revised 14/09/2015

Master of Occupational Therapy Program

Table of Contents Table of Contents 1.

Abbreviations: ....................................................................................................................................3

2.

Practice Education within the Program ...............................................................................................3

3.

Preparing for practice education.........................................................................................................4

4.

On placement .....................................................................................................................................6

5.

How will you be assessed?..................................................................................................................7

6.

Supervision ........................................................................................................................................8

7.

If problems arise ..............................................................................................................................10

8.

Insurance .........................................................................................................................................11

9.

For further information ....................................................................................................................11

Master of Occupational Therapy Program

1. Abbreviations: •

Australian Minimum Competency Standards for New Graduate Occupational Therapists (ACSOT) 2010: The standards

•

Faculty of Health Sciences and Medicine: Faculty

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Master of Occupational Therapy: MOccThy

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Master of Occupational Therapy Program: Program

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Master of Occupational Therapy Program Students: Students

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Master of Occupational Therapy Program Charter: Charter

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Occupational Therapy Australia: OTA

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Occupational Therapy Council: OTC

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Practice Education Learning Agreement Template: Learning agreement template

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Practice Education Log: Log of hours

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Student Practice Evaluation Form – Revised: SPEF-R

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The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency: (AHPRA)

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World Federation of Occupational Therapists: WFOT

2. Practice Education within the Program In accordance with the requirements of the Occupational Therapy Council (OTC) and the World Federation of Occupational Therapists (WFOT), the Program includes over 1000 hours of practice education to exceed minimum requirements and to provide you with opportunities to translate theory into practice and consolidate your clinical skills. Practice education, also known as ‘fieldwork’ or ‘clinical education’ is spread throughout the program, from the first semester to the last. The placement requirements will be graded to allow you to develop and consolidate your skills. An overview of fieldwork by semester is provided below in table 1. Paid or voluntary work completed outside of the context of the Program will not be counted towards placement hours, but may be valuable for future practice. Semester

Practice education

1

You will take part in 2 days of placement with an occupational therapist to experience the typical day and practice of an occupational therapist. As part of your developing skill as an occupational therapy student, you will also complete an accessibility audit of a public location under the direction of your Subject Coordinator.

2

In this semester you will explore the importance of occupation for health, and develop foundation skills for occupational therapy practice. Fieldwork will incorporate a combination of experiential learning, simulated patients (i.e., actors or therapists who will play the role of a client to help you develop confidence in your skills) and case studies that simulate real life situations.

Master of Occupational Therapy Program

3

In semester three you will experience fieldwork in every subject. You will apply your in-class learning through fieldwork in schools, workplace health, and community health. This semester you will also begin with the first of three block placements, where you will be placed with an occupational therapist in a health or social care setting for 15 days.

4

In this semester you will undertake your second block placement of 7 weeks duration. This longer placement allows you to continue to develop your knowledge, skills and attitudes for future practice as an occupational therapist. At the end of this semester you will undertake a short overseas placement to consolidate your competency, especially around culturally safe practice. For those who are unable to attend an overseas placement, a series of case studies will be used to replicate the learning.

5

The fifth semester will consolidate your clinical skills through your longest block placement of 10 weeks duration.

6

In your final semester of the program, you will be preparing to transition to practice. Two final fieldwork experiences will round out your skills. In one subject, you will undertake a service improvement project through the development of a professional position statement, replicating the professional and service improvement undertaken by occupational therapists in practice. In a second subject your will develop your skills in what is known as ‘macro’ practice (working with communities) by completing an advocacy project. Macro practice is a growing field of occupational therapy practice.

Table 1: Fieldwork by semester in the MOccThy program While studying the program, the University will register you with the Occupational Therapy Board of Australia as a registered student. This requires you to uphold the standards of practice required by national law in order to protect the public. For more information about student registration, please visit http://www.ahpra.gov.au/Registration/Student-Registrations.aspx . Please note that you do not need to register individually with AHPRA, as this is completed by the University.

3. Preparing for practice education Preparation for practice education begins the moment you enter the program. Your first priority and responsibility is to make sure that you are compliant with all pre-placement requirements including; 1. Holding a current and valid Blue Card at all times. 2. Having a recent Federal Police Check (within the last 3 months) and notifying the university of any changes to your criminal history. 3. Completing all vaccinations. You will be required to produce recent serology results to confirm immunity towards hepatitis B, measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, varicella (Chicken Pox), polio and tuberculosis. You are also strongly encouraged, but not required to, Master of Occupational Therapy Program

have yearly influenza vaccinations. 4. Holding current Provide First Aid (HLTAID003) & Provide CPR (HLTAID001) accreditation. 5. Notifying the Academic Coordinator of Clinical Education (Occupational Therapy) if you have health issues or a disability that may impact on your performance during practice education. Many of these requirements will need to take place ahead of time, and can take up to multiple months for processing. 1 copy of all of these documents must be submitted to the Compliance Officer prior to placement. A due date will be advised for your cohort. Failure to submit these documents in a timely manner means that you will not be able to attend placement, and you may be unable to complete the subject and/or program. Information on the approximate cost of these processes is provided below (as at 2015) in table 2. Requirement Serology

Approx. cost in AUD Free on campus

Important details Free through on campus clinic only Elsewhere may cost $60 $150

Hepatitis B

$22 per vaccination

A series of 3 vaccinations

Measles, Mumps & Rubella

$30 per vaccination

A series of 2 vaccinations

Diphtheria, Tetanus & Pertussis

$37 per vaccination

1 vaccination only

Varicella (Chicken Pox)

$66 per vaccination

A series of 2 vaccinations

Flu Vaccination

$25 per vaccination

1 vaccination per year

(dTpa)

Tuberculosis Screening

Free if done on campus

(Maxtoux) Police check

$52

Valid for 3 years

Blue Card (student)

Free for initial app and renewals

Valid for 3 years

CPR/First Aid

$150 for both components

First Aid valid for 3 years

$56 to renew CPR annually

CPR valid for 1 year

$71

Valid 10 years

Polio / dTpaP

Table 2. Compliance requirements (immunisation costs are based on Bond University Health Services estimates. Costs may vary between providers.)

You will also need to prepare for each individual placement. As each placement will vary you will need Master of Occupational Therapy Program

to prepare by; •

Making appropriate time to attend the placement (e.g., organising child care if applicable).

•

Making transport and accommodation arrangements as required.

•

Contact your practice educator to introduce yourself and ascertain details such as locations, hours of attendance, uniform requirements, parking and other site-specific requirements.

•

Complete any site specific pre-orientation (e.g., Queensland Health online modules).

•

Some practice educators may provide you with, or guide you towards, mandatory pre-reading. Where no mandatory pre-reading is provided, you are encouraged to conduct a brief reading relevant to the practice area.

•

Attend the practice education briefing for each placement.

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Inform the Academic Coordinator of Clinical Education (Occupational Therapy) if you have been allocated to a facility where you have previously or currently work, have a relative working, where you are currently or have previously been in receipt of services from the facility, or have a relative in receipt of services from the facility. These instances will be considered on a case-bycase basis and you may be allocated to an alternative placement.

Given the range of practice contexts around Australia, there is a strong likelihood that you may be allocated a placement in a regional, rural or other area beyond the immediate vicinity of the Bond University Gold Coast campus. You should make preparations to attend at least one placement beyond the Gold Coast region throughout the program. For those students with genuine hardship or circumstances where you may be unable to attend a distant placement, you will need to negotiate with the Academic Coordinator of Clinical Education (Occupational Therapy) prior to or on commencement of the Program, or as early as reasonable practicable.

4.

On placement

During placement you should abide by all conduct requirements described in the Bond University Master of Occupational Therapy Program Charter. The charter describes a range of professional behaviours and orientates you to relevant codes of ethics and standards. While on placement it is your responsibility to complete and submit three vital documents (where applicable); •

Learning agreement: Your learning agreement is negotiated between yourself and your practice educator. It describes your learning objectives and how you will achieve them, and should be tailored to your personal learning needs as well as the opportunities provided by the placement. The learning agreement would generally be completed by the second week of placement. Learning agreements are required for all block placements. The Bond University template should be used and will be provided prior to your first block placement.

Master of Occupational Therapy Program

•

Practice Education Log: You will be required to complete a log of hours for all placement (excluding case studies). This must be signed by your practice educator or Subject Coordinator. The Bond University template should be used and will be provided prior to your first placement.

•

Student Review of Professional Practice Placement: At the end of each block placement, you will need to complete a Student Review of Professional Practice Placement. The document forms part of the Student Practice Education Form – Revised, and should be submitted to the Academic Coordinator of Clinical Practice (Occupational Therapy) at the end of the placement.

It is your responsibility during placement to comply with all workplace procedures and instructions, including abiding by occupational health and safety requirements. If at any time during placement you are unwell, or your health or personal circumstances changes (e.g., death of a family member) it is important to notify your practice educator and the Academic Coordinator of Clinical Education (Occupational Therapy). In instances where you have an infectious illness you should not attend the placement facility. In the case of an accident, injury or other relevant incident during placement you should notify your practice educator and follow your local workplace procedures, as well as notifying the Academic Coordinator of Clinical Education (Occupational Therapy). You will be advised of appropriate forms that must be completed to document the incident. Non-compliance with any aspects described above or in the Charter my result in withdrawal from the practice education experience, in which case you may be unable to complete the subject and/or program.

5.

How will you be assessed?

Regular supervision is a standard part of practice education; therefore there should be no surprises when you reach your halfway and final assessments. Your halfway assessment does not impact on your final grade, but provides an opportunity for yourself and your supervisor to identify areas of strength and areas for improvement. Bond University uses the Student Practice Evaluation Form – Revised (SPEF-R) in your three block placements as well as your international placement. The SPEF-R is a standardised assessment tool that is currently used across Australia universities. Master of Occupational Therapy Program

The SPEF-R assesses your performance across a range of domains including; •

Professional Behaviour

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Self Management Skills

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Co-worker Communication

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Communication Skills

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Documentation

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Information Gathering

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Service Provision

•

Service Evaluation

The SPEF-R uses a five point rating scale. A score of 3 (Performs Adequately) demonstrates that your practice educator believes that you are competent to practice at your current level of training. Your supervisor is also encouraged to include comments to support their writing or provide overall feedback, although with some arrangement supervision may be regular enough that you are already aware of relevant feedback. Your overall grade for block placement subjects as well as the international placement associated with the subject The new global occupational therapist will be either pass or fail. You and your supervisor will be provided with an electronic copy of the SPEF-R prior to commencement of the placement. Some practice educators will choose to use the online version of the SPEF-R, in which case you will receive your result electronically. Standard appeal processes apply if you feel that your grades do not reflect your observed performance.

6.

Supervision

Supervision is an integral aspect of practice education. Supervision provides an opportunity for you and your practice educator to reflect on your learning opportunities and your performance, your practice educator may provide feedback or focussed guidance on how to continue to develop your skills, and to establish learning goals and opportunities for the future. Supervision can be both formal (e.g., where you set aside a focussed session of up to 1 hour to discuss with your supervisor) or informal (e.g., discussing with your supervisor after a session with a client, in a car between visits, or asking questions while working on tasks). An important part of supervision is being open with your supervisor in the context of a respectful, professional relationship. Your supervisor will expect you to explain your professional reasoning, both concerning what you have observed as well as the information gathering and service provision you have taken part in. You should also expect to communicate your progress and how you are Master of Occupational Therapy Program

managing your caseload and time. You will also be expected to be proactive in preparing following, and following up from, supervision. Before each supervision session, you should develop a range of reflections, questions and your initial plans and objectives moving forward. There are multiple models of student supervision and student placements. Some of the common models are described below, although this list is by no means exhaustive. Supervision /

Description

Placement Model One-on-one

One-on-one supervision is the style of supervision that students are usually most familiar with. With one-on-one supervision you will have a dedicated practice educator. Having a good relationship with your supervisor is very important in a one-on-one model. While this is a traditional model of supervision, one of the drawbacks of the approach is that the close supervision can limit your ability to be autonomous and develop confidence with acting independently (with oversight).

Collaborative

This is also known as a one-to-many model of supervision. With this model there will multiple students to one practice educator. It is common for there to be one practice educator and two students. While you are likely to receive less individual attention from your supervisor using this model, you are likely to receive useful feedback and support from your peer. Many students find that this model allows them to balance independence with the support and confidence of having a peer to work alongside. Working alongside another student can also normalise the expectations of student performance.

Group supervision

Group supervision can take many forms (e.g., multiple mentoring, shared supervision, inter-agency placements) where there are multiple practice educators and one or more students. These placements work well when practice educators and students have similar expectations and understanding of the practice placement. While having multiple supervisors means that you will have to adapt to multiple styles, you are also likely to benefit from a broader range of experience and skills to draw on and a higher likelihood of finding a supervisory style that works for you.

Role emerging

During role emerging placements, you will be placed in a service where there has previously been no or limited occupational therapy involvement. Supervision would occur from a workplace supervisor who is not an occupational therapist, along-side a supervisor from the

Master of Occupational Therapy Program

university who is an occupational therapist. The university supervisor may, or may not, be onsite. This is typically called ‘long-arm’ supervision, where you will meet with your occupational therapy practice educator multiple times per week. Many students find that the responsibility and autonomy associated with a role-emerging placement make them feel more confident in their skills and abilities, and helps to develop important skills such as communication and evidence-based practice at a high level. Conversely, students may feel that they have less opportunity to practice hands-on skills. On balance, it is often useful if students experience a mix of both more traditional, as well as role-emerging or project placements (described below). Role emerging placement can also lead to new occupational therapy roles being formed in services, allowing improve job prospects for graduates. Project placements

Project placements are similar to role-emerging placement in regards to challenges and benefits, and supervision styles. Supervision may be conducted by a university-based practice educator or a practice-educator from industry. With a project placement, students will usually conduct a discrete project such as developing a training program, or setting up a new service within an existing occupational therapy workplace.

Student-led clinics

Student-led clinics are increasingly used to provide students with sustainable opportunities to develop practice skills and knowledge. In student-led clinics, a practice educator provides supervision (usually in the collaborative or group style described above), but students are usually responsible for running the clinic, seeing all or most clients, and handing over and providing training to subsequent student groups in the clinic. Student led clinics often have a limited scope to ensure that clients’ needs can be met by the students’ competencies (under supervision). Student-led clinics can help students feel confident as emerging independent practitioners, especially as they will often see multiple clients with similar needs. Having a mix of student-led clinical placements and other placement styles can help students to develop a broader range of skills.

7.

If problems arise

Practice placement is challenging for most students. You will be expected to be learning and consolidating new skills and abilities on a daily basis. Some students can also find it challenging to translate theory learnt in the classroom to the practice setting. Master of Occupational Therapy Program

If you are experiencing difficulty achieving competency in an area, it is important that you communicate early with your practice educator as well as the Academic Coordinator of Clinical Education (Occupational Therapy). Your educators can help you to put these challenges in context, and can also help you to identify approaches, resources and learning opportunities that can help you achieve your competencies and pass the placement. The final weeks of placement are often too late to be developing new skills, so it is important to address these needs early. The Academic Coordinator of Clinical Education (Occupational Therapy) is also a key contact if concerns arise during placement including, but not limited to; •

Feedback: for example a lack of regular or clear feedback from the practice educator.

•

Quality of supervision: for example a lack of opportunities to receive supervision or provide feedback from the student perspective. Your practice educators are usually very busy, but there may be strategies that can help you to achieve the supervision that you need.

•

Access to clients: If there is less access to clients than would be reasonably expected on the placement, it is important to let the Academic Coordinator of Clinical Education (Occupational Therapy) know. While it is common to have ‘paperwork days’ where you may follow up with a number of clients that you have seen on other days, having multiple days with no contact may not be acceptable.

•

Bullying, harassment, or discrimination: These behaviours are not acceptable in any workplace, and should be notified to the practice educator and/or Academic Coordinator of Clinical Education (Occupational Therapy). You have the right to expect a safe and fair work environment, including interactions with your clients, practice educator and other staff and students.

8.

Insurance

The university hold an appropriate level of public and product liability insurance to meet the requirements for registration of occupational therapy students. If you practice educator or the service requests a certificate of currency or other insurance document please contact the Academic Coordinator of Clinical Education (Occupational Therapy) who will arrange the latest documentation.

9.

For further information

For information specific to practice education at Bond University please contact the Academic Coordinator of Clinical Education (Occupational Therapy). To further prepare you for placements, your next step is to visit the Occupational Therapy Competencies Australia Website; Master of Occupational Therapy Program

https://otca.net.au/ You will be directly at various times in the program to review specific sections of the website, although you are encouraged to browse the website as soon as possible.

Master of Occupational Therapy Program