Understanding placement impacts for allied health students
Australia’s aspiring occupational therapists, physiotherapists and speech pathologists are required to work in full-time, unpaid supervised clinical placements in the course of their studies.
CQUniversity researchers are asking how those requirements impact students – and ultimately their ability to graduate and thrive in their career.
The Student Resilience Matters project is led by Desley Simpson, an Occupational Therapy lecturer at CQUniversity, and asks what best boosts students’ resilience for managing the challenges.
She said that industry placements, mandated by allied health accrediting bodies, are particularly challenging for regional and mature-aged students.
More than 125 occupational therapy, physiotherapy and speech pathology students from across Australia have responded to the study.
“Our preliminary results confirm that students are struggling to manage placement commitments alongside the existing juggle of employment, family and study,” Ms Simpson said.
“Placement can mean 10 to 20 weeks or so doing full-time hours, often away from their home base and support systems.”
Ms Simpson’s PhD focuses on concerns that Allied Health students are struggling – and she hopes to identify practices and supports that bolster resilience.
“For instance, an individual’s sense of spirituality or purpose, as well as other variables such as previous exposure to adversity, may influence their resilience,” she explained.
“Ultimately, with this knowledge, we can look at developing evidence-informed resilience interventions in the curriculum.”
Last month, the Federal Government’s University Accord report labelled the situation a 'placement poverty'.
The report recommended that governments fund placements for teaching and nursing but suggested that businesses and governments should work together to fund placements in other courses including Allied Health.
Ms Simpson said studies had shown similar impacts across the United Kingdom, South Africa, Germany and the United States.
“But it’s not as simple as addressing the financial issues. For instance, occupational therapy relies on the goodwill and generosity of clinical supervisors to take students on for an extended period of time. It’s a demanding but rewarding time for both students and supervisors," she said.
"Students need to be prepared beforehand, financially and emotionally. We are exploring whether resilience curriculum interventions might help.”
The Student Resilience Matters project supervisors are Dr Maria O’Reilly and Dr Lauren Miller-Lewis, both academics at CQUniversity.
If you are a student in occupational therapy, physiotherapy or speech pathology courses, get more information or share your experience via the project’s Student Resilience Matters website.
Students can complete an initial anonymous survey, then may be invited to participate in an online interview.
Participants will not be asked to report which university they are attending, and any identifying features will not be recorded.
