Have you ever considered taking on an OT student for a clinical placement? Did you know that there are many different types of placements you could offer? This blog will give you a run through of some common options to help you choose the type of placement that is best suited to your workplace.

Short placement with junior students

For students that are 1-2 years into their four-year degree (or in their first year of a master’s degree), often the most common type of clinical placement is a short placement for a period of 1-2 weeks. Often these placements require a high level of supervisor input for a short period of time and there usually isn’t time for the students to progress their skills to a level where they are able to take on any of the supervisor’s caseload. These placements are great for:

• Junior OTs (1-3 years' experience).

• OTs who are new to supervising students.

• Busy workplaces that can only commit to providing support to a student for a short period of time.

• Workplaces that haven’t hosted students before and want to do a test run to work out logistics and get some procedures in order.

Long placement with senior students

For students that are 3-4 years into their four-year degree (or in their final year of a master’s degree), a common type of clinical placement is a long placement for a period of 5-12 weeks. Senior students may have more refined self-directed learning skills, and eventually may be able to share some of the tasks usually completed by their supervisors (e.g. seeing clients for treatment sessions with distant supervision or independently), so overall the intensity of supervisor support required may be less than for a junior student, but it needs to be sustained for a much longer period of time. These placements are great for:

• More experienced OTs (3+ years’ experience so they can answer student questions requiring a higher level of clinical reasoning).

• OTs who have supervised students or other OTs previously.

• Workplaces that have experience hosting students and have sufficient staffing to support the student over an extended period of time (this placement type may work well for part-time therapists who can share the supervision of the student/s).

• Workplaces planning to establish a new graduate program (student placements may serve as a ‘test run’ of what systems and resources you should have in place).

1:1 student placements

Once you’ve decided what year level student you can support, and for how long, the next step is to consider how many students to take on. You may be thinking, “are you kidding me, only one of course!” but there are circumstances when more than one student may actually be the better option for your workplace (more on this in the next section). 1:1 placements mean each student has one supervisor who is responsible for their supervision throughout their placement. These placements are great for:

• OTs who are new to supervising students.

• Workplaces where there is a concern that staffing or referral levels may fluctuate and limit the learning opportunities available to students.

• Workplaces that haven’t hosted students before and want to do a test run to work out logistics and get some procedures in order.

2:1 or paired student placements

Believe it or not, taking on 2 students (or more) in one workplace at the same time may actually be the most efficient option for your workplace. When there is more than one student in a workplace at the same time, you can setup opportunities for peer-learning that do not require the supervisor to be present, which gives the OT a little more student-free time without limiting the learning opportunities available to students. Activities could involve practicing an assessment or treatment technique on each other, or brainstorming a treatment plan for a client so that by the time they are ready to discuss it with their supervisor, any simple errors or gaps may have already been addressed through peer feedback. These learning opportunities help build student confidence and communication skills. These placements are great for:

• OTs who have previous experience supervising students (if it is one supervisor taking on two students).

• Larger workplaces with multiple OT supervisors, so there will always be opportunities to observe and participate in hands-on client sessions.

• Workplaces that have experience hosting students and already have some existing systems and resources in place (to ensure the admin side of the placement is manageable).

• Workplaces with a dedicated clinical educator to help oversee student timetables to create peer learning opportunities (to avoid adding extra pressure to individual supervisors to coordinate student schedules).

Project placements

Another type of placement is a project placement, or part-time project/part-time clinical placement. Project placements require much less supervision than clinical placements, where students can be given scaffolding and supervision meetings, but can work independently on a project for longer periods of time. A project could involve reviewing literature and creating a new treatment resource, or any other type of quality improvement project. These placements are great for:

• OTs whose caseload may fluctuate (so hands-on learning opportunities for students may be limited).

• OTs who do not have capacity to provide close supervision on a daily basis.

• These placements work best with two students (or a group of students for larger workplaces) to allow for peer brainstorming and delegation of tasks to maximise the project outcomes.

Still not sure?

If you’re still not sure which placement is best for you, I’d highly recommend reaching out to the placement coordinators at your local universities. They would be able to discuss the placement options offered through their university and may even be able to work out flexible options, including part-time placements, to suit your workplace supervision capabilities.

If you found this post helpful, then continue to follow ‘Your OT Tutor’ or visit the website (https://yott.au) and sign-up to the mailing list. The Journal Club session in March 2023 is all about supporting OT students during clinical placements, and by April 2023 there will be a range of ‘done-for-you’ resources to help make student placements as efficient and high-quality as possible.

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