I had my final practice placement at the end of last century. Jessica, my practice educator, continues to have a lasting influence on my work today: her kindness, patience, adaptability, communication with the patients, sharing her knowledge and time with me. She allowed me to really get to know patients. I spent a lovely hour helping Mrs Hall, a confused and distressed older woman, to look for her watch. After much hunting, we found it at the top of her arm! I remember this placement with warmth, and it was an easy decision to apply for my first post in the same team.
The experiences I had throughout my practice-based learning opportunities still have a huge influence on who I am today as an occupational therapist and as a person.
Practice-based learning forms about a third of a pre-registration learner’s studies. The purpose is simple: ‘allowing learners to apply and practise their newly-acquired knowledge and skills in a safe environment’ (RCOT 2019:13). A recent study highlighted how first-year students valued the opportunity provided by practice-based learning to confirm occupational therapy was the right profession for them. They also appreciated experiences that ‘incorporate reality, participation and making connections to a bigger picture of occupational therapy service provision’.
However, maintaining placement capacity, the opportunities for these experiences, has always been multi-faceted and challenging. The impact of COVID-19 has only heightened this. But, like so many things since the start of 2020, there are new opportunities and innovations, and these are being fully embraced.
As a profession, here’s what we are facing:
- A significant backlog of pre-registration students and apprentices (learners) need placements, mostly due to the cancellation of first-year placements in spring 2020.
- This backlog is likely to peak in early summer 2021 when many programmes have multiple cohorts on placements at the same time in order to ‘catch up’.
- Without placements, learners cannot progress their studies and therefore won’t be able to qualify.
- The workforce pipeline – the people who will fill the junior vacancies in your team – will dry up, unless we as a profession keep providing and growing placement opportunities.
In a time of so much incredible pressure, challenge and change it feels insensitive to have a further ask of members, but that is what I am doing. I would like to ask you to take a few minutes to consider how you can embrace these opportunities and innovations and support placements for learners.
I recognise placements take time and careful planning. They also hugely benefit your service and your own CPD, providing you with an opportunity to share and develop your knowledge and experience and shape the future of our profession.
There are all sorts of ways in which you can support practice-based learning. If your current role or work pressures mean you are unable to take a student for a six- or twelve-week placement, that’s okay, but please do explore how you can help others be practice educators. You could:
- mentor an inexperienced practice educator;
- hold tutorials or days to enhance a placement experience for learners within your organisation;
- offer long-arm supervision to learners on other placements;
- share the educator role with a colleague;
- support learners in developing an aspect of your service;
- offer a blended placement where learners are with you two-three days a week; they then spend the remaining days working on a quality improvement or research project; or
- include learners in developing the evidence base to help give confidence to recent innovation in practice.
Students and apprentices need these practice-based learning opportunities so they can come and work with you as registered occupational therapists. That can only happen with your ongoing support.
You can chat to us or your local university about how you can support practice-based learning. You can also use our resources and stories from your colleagues on our Small Change, Big Impact wall.
Thank you to everyone who has continued to support practice-based learning, in all sorts of wonderful ways, through these most unprecedented times. You are not only supporting learners to join the workforce, but also inspiring future occupational therapists.
You could be a future occupational therapist’s Jessica!
Thank you for your consideration.
If you have provided practice-based learning opportunities during the pandemic, you can inspire others to do the same by sharing your story on our Small Change, Big Impact wall.