The prosthetics and orthotics program at UniSC provides an integrated curriculum that introduces concepts and skills required clinically along with engaging in the more technical aspects of the field to develop awareness of the complexities of practice; both as a service to consumers and as a supplier of assistive devices.
In this program, practice education experiences, which include simulated clinical experiences in courses, are distributed throughout all three years culminating with the 2 long-block placements (totalling 16 weeks) occurring in Semester 2 of the third year. These experiences will provide you with an understanding of the broad range of settings, conditions, and clientele that you may see as a new clinician upon graduation and provides an early introduction into the roles and responsibilities of an orthotist/prosthetist.
There are three specific placement courses with varying fieldwork requirements starting in the 2nd semester of the 2nd year in OCC232 and continuing with HLT321 and HLT302. The first two placements focus on developing your communication skills with individuals with disabilities, co-workers, professionalism, and self-management skills and will occur in a wide-range of locations, usually outside of P&O.
Overview
1. Foundation skills
Foundational placement skills are taught and practiced in OCC232, where the course uses a mixture of simulated placement experiences and volunteering in different settings so students can develop their skills in primary professional skills of communication and self-management prior to longer-block placements.
In HLT321, students will be placed in a combination of allied health, simulated or healthcare clinical settings either in a part-time or full-time block that totals a minimum of 96 hours. At the time of placement, students will also take 4 modules that focus on development around clinical practice documentation, legal and ethical issues of practice, and funding in P&O. The emphasis of the placement is to continue to develop the core skills from OCC232, gain a broader understanding of the healthcare system and related allied health fields, and see how the concepts discussed in the modules are used or modelled in clinical practice. Students are assessed via coursework during the modules, and on placement via a student performance assessment tool that is relevant to the core development of P&O students. The final grade for these placements is Ungraded Pass/Fail.
OCC232 Foundational Placement Competencies in Allied Health
HLT321 Developing Professional Practice in Prosthetics & Orthotics
2. Integration
In HLT302, students will go on 2 long-block (8-weeks each), full-time placements in the second semester in prosthetics and orthotics facilities nationally and internationally to integrate theoretical and practical knowledge in a clinical setting. Emphasis during these placements is on the application of knowledge and skills to understand and manage clinical issues, while gaining more hands-on experience in prosthetics and orthotics. Block placements will encourage students to practice in a variety of work areas and workplaces, which students being exposed both to prosthetics and orthotics over the two blocks. Students are required to demonstrate effective and efficient caseload management that is appropriate to their level of training and experience.
Students are assessed using the full Student Practice Education Form - Revised (SPEF-R), a nationally used student performance assessment tool. The final grade for these placements is Ungraded Pass/Fail.
After the end of the last long-block placement, students complete a capstone module of HLT302 that is designed to provide students with an opportunity to integrate knowledge, skills, and experience gained in coursework and placements to manage a simulated case with client-models on campus and demonstrate the competencies required prior to graduation.
HLT302 Prosthetics and Orthotics Practicum
Sourcing of placements
All placements are sourced, administered, and supported by the PO Placement Coordinator, including the volunteer work in OCC232. However, if a student has a special request in location or type of facility/work, please let the placement coordinator know as soon as possible to work towards approval of a requested placement site.
Location and time commitment
As P&O is a small field and most facilities are geographically located near capital and urban centres, all attempts will be made to provide at least one long-block placement in the South-east Queensland area (mainly Brisbane), but there is no guarantee. Placements in OCC232 and HLT321, however, can be organised in and around the Sunshine Coast geographical area as they are not required to be in P&O and provide more opportunities for students in location.
Travel costs and other expenses incurred during placement (including travel to and from, accommodation if placed away from home) are the students’ responsibility. It is expected that students commence their planning for placements from the first year of the program and prepare to undertake full-time placements that may be away from their primary place of residence. Students are also advised that they may not be able to continue with external work or volunteer commitments during placements and must consider this in their planning.
Mandatory checks
To be eligible to commence placements, students must complete the following Mandatory checks and upload to their Sonia Online account.
NOTE: some of the mandatory checks can take quite some time to organise and students are advised to commence working on obtaining their specific mandatories as soon as possible.
Remuneration and insurance
No remuneration or payment is made by the placement organisation to the students or to the University for hosting the student. Students undertaking an approved placement are covered by the University’s insurance policies.
Uniform
Students must wear a UniSC placement uniform shirt when completing placement activities.
How to purchase a UniSC placement uniform:
- Order online from the MyPrint Shop and you can choose to collect from your local campus or deliver to your home address. Orders may take up to four weeks to arrive.
Contact information
For general enquiries about School of Health work integrated learning opportunities please contact:
Clinical Placements Administrative Assistant
Email: SHSSplacements@usc.edu.au
Tel: +61 7 5456 5823