Paying it forward

When I was an allied health undergraduate, making it to the final year of the program was exciting, but, if I’m honest, also extremely daunting! Up until our capstone year, I had only been dipping my toes in the water with smaller opportunities to test out the theory I had been learning in real life situations.  Now it was time to put the wetsuit on, take the floaties off and dive into the deep end.

I was fully immersed in real-life practice, and many years on, now in a role where I am the supervisor, I regularly draw on these invaluable experiences to facilitate my role in student placements.

I guess we’ve always known that industry placements are invaluable, but now it’s policy.  As part of the Job Ready Graduates Package in Higher Education reforms, the Federal Government has recently introduced the National Priorities and Industry Linkage. Universities will receive funding based on their performance in one of three areas, including increasing the number of internships, practicums and innovative approaches to work integrated learning to ensure that graduates are work-ready. These types of placements, otherwise known as work integrated learning, are an essential element in many vocational, undergraduate and post graduate programs, particularly in the fields of education and health.

For most students, their placements are often the highlight of their studies – where they have the opportunity to translate all they have learnt at university into real life situations, allowing them to consolidate the knowledge and skills needed to competently practice in their field.

Universities need to ensure the quality of work integrated learning opportunities, as just being in attendance at a work site does not necessarily lead to ‘quality’ student learning and skill development.  This will often involve liaison with organisations to determine the type of placements that can be offered, the availability of suitable student supervisors, whether the supervisor is able to provide quality supervision, and the level of resourcing and support required.

But what’s in it for the supervising professionals?

It’s easy to view supervising a student as a just another job to add to the list!  It’s a given that you need to plan their placement to maximise their opportunities, but then there’s all the housekeeping - working out where they are going to sit, who is going to provide orientation, how will the learning be facilitated and when will you complete the assessment, paperwork and reporting! But there are good reasons to approach placements with a positive attitude. To achieve this a workplace needs to be prepared. Before deciding whether to offer a student placement, supervisors need to consider their motivation for offering the placement.  I have found that my motivation often stems from a ‘pay it forward’ approach.  I have found my allied health career extremely rewarding, and it wouldn’t have been possible without my placement.  It is a good feeling to know that in ‘returning the favour’ I am (in my own small way) helping to shape the allied health workforce of the future!

Motivations for offering student placements are varied and may be better understood if we explore the benefits of hosting student placements.

Benefits observed within workplaces that offer student placements can include:

• Improved diversity within the workplace
• Improved productivity, as students can progress research or quality improvement projects that may not have otherwise been resourced
• Increased service provision
• Improved staff knowledge and skills in supervision
• Increased development of mutually beneficial relationships with higher education providers.

For supervisors, additional benefits include opportunities to:

• Give back to your industry or profession
• Explore your own practice of profession-specific skills
• Develop your communication, supervision, reasoning and leadership skills
• Participate in the collective mission to produce a high-quality future workforce
• Increase students’ awareness of a particular area of practice
• Equip students with the skills and capabilities to thrive in the workforce
• Obtain continuing education or professional development accreditation points for student supervision
• Progress your career.

Student supervision might also be guided by professional associations that may mandate that student supervision is a professional responsibility and element of competent practice.

Your motivation to offer or not offer a student placement might also stem from logistic challenges associated with providing student placements, or previous experiences of supervision that have not gone as planned. Most difficulties encountered by supervisors are related to unsatisfactory or poor student performance, differing expectations between the student and the supervisor or the ability to accommodate diverse learning needs.

Before these situations arise, it is important that supervisors and organisations work in partnership with universities to clarify the expectations of the placement that will allow university and accreditation requirements to be met.  This may include the provision of training or resources to support the development of supervision skills; agreed levels of support for supervisors while they have a student on placement, and joint strategies to manage placements when concerns arise.  It is also important that supervisors recognise the need for their own professional development to ensure they are adequately prepared to provide student supervision.

Despite the best planning and preparation, student supervisors are often faced with difficult situations to work through with their students. Students on placements may have not yet acquired mature coping strategies to handle certain situations which evoke strong emotions and may have yet to learn how to negotiate the organisational demands. Likewise, the supervisor may be pressed for time, faced with their own personal issues in addition to work and have organisational strain to deal with. Finding sustainable ways of managing these challenges ensures the opportunities for learning for both the supervisor and student.

Remembering my experiences as a student can be handy when it comes to managing the challenges I now face as a supervisor.  I certainly didn’t get it right all the time, and I certainly wasn’t competent straight away! My supervisors and university placement coordinators were strong communicators and used great tools and frameworks to support me. This really helped identify and manage the challenges I faced early.  I also felt reassured when my supervisor would say things like ‘I am not too sure, let’s touch base with the university to see what they think might be best’.  No one has all the answers all of the time.  It is important that students see their supervisors reflecting on their own skills and limitations, and seeking support when they are faced with difficult situations, as this highlights the importance of continued professional development in our future workforce.

REFERENCES

1.         Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Health Workforce. 2020  [cited 2021; Available from: https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/australias-health/health-workforce.

2.         Naccarella, L., Strengthening the allied health workforce: policy, practice and research issues and opportunities. Aust Health Rev, 2015. 39(3): p. 241-3.

3.         Queensland Government, Optimising the allied health workforce for best care and best value A 10-year Strategy 2019-2029 Q. Health, Editor. 2019, Queensland Health.

4.         Queensland Government, .Allied Health Clinical Education and Workforce Training Plan 2020-2029 Q. Health, Editor. 2020, State of Queensland.

5.         Bridge. J and Twaddle. T (nd) Scaling up work integrated learning in higher education. Government Matters, Price Waterhouse Cooper. [cited 2021; Available from:  Scaling up work integrated learning in higher education (pwc.com.au)

6.         Phillips KPA (2014) Report to the Department of Industry Engaging Employers in Work Integrated Learning: Current State and Future Priorities. PhillipsKPA Pty Ltd Victoria.  Available at:  PhillipsKPA

7.         ClinEdAus (nd) Benefits of offering clinical education placements. [Cited 2021; available from: https://www.clinedaus.org.au/topics-category/benefits-of-offering-clinical-education-placements-87

8.         Speech Pathology Australia (2005). Position Statement Clinical Education - The importance and value for the speech pathology profession

This article was co-developed with Liza-Jane McBride (Chief Allied Health Officer, Department of Health), Belinda Gavaghan (Director Allied Health – Allied Health Professions’ Office of Queensland (AHPOQ)) and Megan Harbourne (Statewide Clinical Education Program Manager, AHPOQ)