3.1
Offering Placements
You are
eligible to supervise a student after 1 year of clinical practice. You
may assist another therapist in student supervision prior to completing
your first year of practice.
If you are interested in becoming a preceptor please contact the ACCE.
The
Centre for Studies in Clinical
Education (CSCE) and the ACCE offers workshops at various
times during the year in topic areas related to fieldwork and working
with students in rehabilitation. CSCE also has a Clinical Appointment
system to recognize individual’s contribution to the education of our
students.
If you or
your site has had U of A students in the past, you will likely be on our
computer database. The U of A sends placement request forms twice a
year. On these forms you are asked if you can offer a certain level of
placement for a certain time period. The information you provide is
entered into the U of A computer database and is available for all
students to see and choose from.
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3.2
Fieldwork Site Profile (FS- PRO)
The U of A
promotes the use of the
Canadian Guidelines for Fieldwork Education in
Occupational Therapy. The complete document can be found on the
CAOT
website.
A portion of this document, the FS-PRO is to be completed for all new
sites taking students and is to be updated every 5 years.
Please note
that the, “University fieldwork coordinators require information about
fieldwork education sites regarding opportunities and resources for
student learning. The main goal of this process is to promote excellence
in fieldwork education among partners as well as to fulfill the CAOT
requirements for Academic Accreditation.”
The
information included in the FS-PRO will assist university Fieldwork
Coordinators and students in making informed decisions about placement
selection. They may achieve a balanced student fieldwork profile while
meeting their learning needs.”
(CGFEOT.
2003)
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3.3
National Placement Service
The national
Fieldwork Placement Service is currently being coordinated through
Megram Consulting Services. Recruitment for
students is done separately from the U of A recruitment. Please note
that when placements are offered to
the National Placement Service, only students from
universities other than U of A will have access to them. U of A places
all their students within catchment (AB, SK and NWT) using their own
system. However, U of A uses
the National Placement Service
to place U of A students in
other catchment areas.
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3.4
Selection Process
Students make
their selection of an appropriate placement (AB, SK, NWT) to meet their
needs based on the information provided to the university by the site.
Students select their 10 top choices and the computer matches students
to sites to maximize the number of students placed.
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3.5
Initial Communication
A U of A fieldwork package
will be mailed to you before the start of the placement and will
include:
□
Letter from
the ACCE
□
Fieldwork
Handbook
□
A resume and
Letter of Introduction from the student.
□
The student‘s
contact address, e-mail and phone number.
The site must reply to the
student in as soon as possible…confirming
the start time, working hours, parking information, directions to
the facility and other pertinent information. We also encourage you
to advise the student re: acronyms/abbreviations used by your site,
appropriate textbook or journal readings, and an overview of the
caseload to be worked with.
After the
computer matching process is completed, the placements are approved
by the ACCE and the students are notified by email of these
results. The sites are then contacted by email (or phone) to inform
them that a student has been matched to their site. At that time,
the site will also receive the tentative name of the student.
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3.6
Changes
to and Cancellations of Placements
Sometimes
unavoidable situations result in a placement having to be changed or
cancelled. If a situation arises at your facility that you
feel will affect the fieldwork experience for your student or alter
it significantly, please contact the ACCE as soon as possible.
Every attempt will be made to address the concerns of the
fieldwork site while maintaining the best possible learning
experience for the student. These situations are best dealt with on
a case by case basis.
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