Clinical educator's resource kit

The Clinical Educator’s Resource Kit was developed by what was at the time referred to as the Queensland Occupational Therapy Fieldwork Collaborative (QOTFC) as an outcome of the project “Engaging the Clinicians”. [QOTFC has since evolved into the Occupational Therapy Practice Education Collaborative (OTPEC-Q)].

This statewide project aimed to increase collaboration between and commitment to student fieldwork education by occupational therapists in Queensland. The project, conducted from July 2006 – June 2007, brought together occupational therapists interested in fieldwork who could potentially help to influence local regions to sustain, provide and increase fieldwork opportunities for occupational therapy students.

Queensland Health is gratefully acknowledged for funding this project. Thanks and acknowledgement are also extended for the support of the numerous occupational therapists around Queensland who contributed their ideas, time and resources to this project thereby enabling it to achieve a range of outcomes, one of which is this resource. The OTPEC-Q hopes that this resource will promote and support the fieldwork opportunities available to occupational therapy students.

You will notice that this kit includes information located on this website, in addition to other handy resources and guidance. All of this content is organised into five main components, or parts, as follows:

Part One: Pre-placement considerations for student clinical education

For the occupational therapy practitioner who has made an expression of interest and who is a) as yet undecided regarding readiness/ability to take on a student and/or b) new to the clinical educator role and seeking support.

Contains preliminary reading material including templates, fact sheets, and worksheets to provide food for thought in:

exploring the benefits of having a student on placement at your facility
considering your readiness to offer a student clinical placement
identifying what it is you need to do in order to set-up and effectively implement a positive student clinical experience.

The material in this section is complimentary to Part Two: Setting up and sustaining a positive student clinical placement.

Part Two: Setting up and sustaining a positive student clinical placement

For the Occupational therapy practitioner who has indicated willingness to provide a student placement.

Contains a step-by-step guide to setting up a successful student placement. Includes information, ideas, templates and worksheets designed to provide you with ideas, tools and guidance for:

Section One: Setting Up for a Student Placement

informing the clinical educator of training and resources available
preparing a positive human and physical clinical learning environment
developing meaningful orientation resources and materials

Section Two: Getting Started

formulating a comprehensive student orientation and clinical timetable
clarifying your expectations to the student
planning and providing meaningful student learning opportunities.

Part Three: Approaches to clinical education

Includes information, discussions, tools and suggestions to:

provide introduction to Adult Learning Theory and the principles of adult learning and increase clinical educator awareness of related references and resources to continuing to build knowledge of this topic
equip the clinical educator with ideas and strategies for facilitating student learning by applying adult learning principles
draw attention to the differing learning styles and to encourage consideration of the unique learning styles of students and consequently to clinical educator teaching styles
provide guidance regarding the content of clinical supervision sessions and useful tools to enhance reflective practice and self-directed learning.

Part Four: The feedback process and evaluation

Includes information, discussions, tools and suggestions to :

increase clinical educator awareness of, and attention to, the characteristics of constructive feedback when supervising students
equip the clinical educator with practical strategies and tools for encouraging reflective practice and self-evaluation
provide overview of the evaluation process and direct the clinical educator to relevant resources and supports.
encourage the practice of evidence-based evaluation.

Clinical educator's resource kit

Part One: Pre-placement considerations for student clinical education

Part Two: Setting up and sustaining a positive student clinical placement

Part Three: Approaches to clinical education

Part Four: The feedback process and evaluation

Part Five: Working with students who are experiencing difficulty