Orientation of the student

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At the start of a placement - Orienting students

In this video below, Michael, a clinical education liaison manager at the University of Queensland, discusses orientation requirements for allied health student placements:

Orientation should involve:

• Explaining placement expectations
• Discussing goals and opportunities for placement (particularly important when using a learning contract)
• Clarifying learning needs, learning styles and preferences for feedback
• Establishing learning experiences
• Providing an outline of the daily/weekly routines
• Allocating adequate time to direct the student’s learning and assessment
• Completing administrative tasks such as gaining a site-specific identification card
• Collecting any documentation required from the student

Suggestions for developing orientation manual content:

Brainstorm with your colleagues:

• Look at other student orientation materials from a different profession in your workplace
• Look at orientation materials for new staff in your workplace
• Look at student orientation manuals from other workplaces
• Gather feedback from past or current students on existing orientation materials
• List resources, readings, guidelines, protocols, forms, handouts, equipment and assessments frequently used

Some examples of orientation manuals are:

• Mount Isa Centre for Rural and Remote Health Student Orientation Manual 
• National Rural Health Student Network:  Rural Placements Guide

References:

Please Note: References remain valid until superseded by later research. The resources referenced here are regularly reviewed and are considered current and relevant to the topics presented.