Alternative Models of Practice Education for Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy
by Dr Yvonne Thomas, Principal Lecturer – Allied Health Professions,
Institute of Health and Society
The following case study identifies the development of a range of alternative practice education (PE) models, including Role-Emerging Placements, International Placements; Student-Led Clinic and two pilot Collaborative Learning in Placement (CLiP) placements that have been established in Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy programmes.
Through effective leadership, the adoption of a range of alternative practice education models within both programmes has been promoted to students and to professional colleagues in practice. In 4 years the feedback from students and practice educators supports the effectiveness of Role-Emerging Placements to promote student confidence and competence.
One of the crucial elements has been in promoting the value of PE to professional colleagues in practice, and engaging them directly in the development of the new programme and the alternative models, through Practice Educator Training courses and annual Practice Educators Days.
International Placement
In 2016 an International Placement was developed for Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy students in their final year of study. The placement was conducted in Vietnam and provided volunteer students an opportunity to complete their final 6 weeks placement in the Orthopaedic and Rehabilitation Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City. The International Placement was possible because of my previous contacts in Vietnam and my experience in developing overseas placements. Through my positive encouragement, commitment and leadership other staff became motivated to support this international experience for students in 2018. Student feedback was excellent and graduates from this cohort have expressed an interest in volunteering to assist future student placements in Vietnam.
Student-Led Clinic
As Academic Lead in Allied Health, I instigated the development of an inter-professional student-led health and wellbeing clinic, at the University of Worcester McClelland Centre. This development provided an opportunity for health professional students from different disciplines, to work collaboratively to provide health and wellbeing programmes that meet a community need. International research on Student-Led Clinics indicates their value to student learning and to the community users. To effectively lead this development, I have undertaken research and supported evaluation and research by students, to evidence the student and service user experience.
CLiP Project
In 2018 we established two new pilot sites for the development of CLiP (Collaborative Learning in Practice), which is a new model that uses coaching methods to encourage students to learn in collaboration. This model changes the one-to-one basis of supervision or preceptorship with a four-to-one model whereby the students learn with and from each other and are coached by the educator. Two CLiP placements, one in Occupational Therapy and one in Physiotherapy, have been undertaken and evaluated, both with Worcestershire Acute Hospitals Trust. There is more scope to increase the number of CLiP practice education projects locally.
Through developing new models of practice education my own leadership skills have developed by inspiring others to adopt new practice education models. It has been essential to articulate and evidence new ideas and then facilitate pilot projects to evaluate and ensure the best outcomes.