FEATURE STUDENT EDUCATION what their future practice placements would be like , and an informal space to ask any questions they might have .
Practical workshops through the week allowed me to develop my facilitation of learning skills in relation to the Royal College of Occupational Therapists ’ Career Development Framework ( 2019 ) and practically demonstrate my clinical reasoning ability . I was surprised by how much my confidence developed as the week progressed .
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The collaboration between students and a lecturer to co-design and facilitate a virtual placement week is one that has been immensely positive .
The week passed quickly and feedback gathered from first-year students was extremely positive . I felt that out of an adverse situation , the university had created an extremely positive learning opportunity for both the firstyear delegates and third-year facilitators . I hope that the format will continue and evolve allowing more students to
be involved in what I found to be an extremely rewarding experience .
Student evaluation First year student participants were asked to complete an evaluation form at the end of the virtual placement week . Students provided positive evaluation of the week and the support offered by the facilitators ( see word cloud ). They also provided positive feedback on the facilitation and support offered by Jessica and Leanne and their overall experience of participating in the week ’ s events .
Concluding thoughts Capacity for practice placements is limited and new and innovative ways to provide placement delivery is required ( HEE 2020 ). A week-long virtual placement week provided an alternative placement delivery model for year one students whose placements had been cancelled at short notice .
The collaboration between students and a lecturer to co-design and facilitate a virtual placement week is one that has been immensely positive . Engaging year three students to assist in facilitating a virtual placement has provided opportunities to develop facilitation of learning skills , be part of change and innovation , reflect on their
First year students ’ evaluation of the learning environment and learning process during the virtual placement week
own experiences to support others learning and has increased confidence in own abilities .
Moving forward , even though the initial set up was time consuming , any future events can now be planned using this model of delivery . Using a virtual platform for delivery provides potential to upscale the numbers of participants if placement capacity challenges continue .
References
Royal College of Occupational Therapists ( 2015 ). Code of ethics and professional conduct for occupational therapists . London : RCOT
Health Education England ( 2020 ) Current placement expectations of AHP regulators and professional bodies . Available at : www . hee . nhs . uk / our-work / allied-healthprofessions / helping-ensure-essential-supply-ahps / placement-expansion-innovation / current-placementexpectations-ahp-regulators [ accessed on 13 February 2021 ]
Royal College of Occupational Therapists ( 2017 ) Career development framework : guiding principles for occupational therapy . Available at : www . rcot . co . uk / sites / default / files / CAREER _ FRAMEWORK . pdf [ accessed on 19 February 2021 ]
World Federation of Occupational Therapists ( 2020 ) COVID-19 and WFOT minimum education standards statement . Available at : www . wfot . org / news / 2020 / covid-19-and-wfotminimum-education-standards [ accessed on 13 February 2021 ]
World Federation of Occupational Therapists ( 2016 ) Minimum standards for the education of occupational therapists . Available at : https :// wfot . org / resources / new-minimum- standards-for-the-education-of-occupational-therapists- 2016-e-copy [ accessed on 13 February 2021 ]
Vikki Barnes-Brown , occupational therapy lecturer and practice placement tutor , University of Liverpool , email : vikkibb @ liverpool . ac . uk , and Jessica Forge and Leanne Wells , third year occupational therapy students , University of Liverpool
42 OTnews December 2021