FEATURE STUDENT EDUCATION
A step outside of the comfort zone
Susan Pride and Nikki White reflect on their experience of a COVID-19-driven virtual placement model ; something that was new to them both at the time
© Nuthawut Somsuk via Getty Images
When the country went into lockdown in March 2020 due to the spread of COVID-19 , the impact on the health service was immense . What was also severely affected was the practice placements of all allied health professions ( AHP ) students within NHS Lanarkshire .
All students on placement found themselves unable to complete their placements or the placement was withdrawn completely . RCOT put out the call for all practitioners , service managers and departmental leads to work creatively and collaboratively with universities delivering pre-registration occupational therapy programmes to explore what could be done to support students to access placements ( Watson 2020 ).
In June 2020 , Glasgow Caledonian University contacted all their NHS contacts seeking a placement opportunity for a student who would be working entirely remotely . As the practice education co-ordinator for my team , I approached my team lead , keen to see if this was something we could support .
After some discussion with our occupational therapy professional lead and AHP director in Lanarkshire , permission was granted and the planning for welcoming our remote student began .
Preparation and nerves I have been qualified for 15 years and have a strong interest in practice education . However , the prospect of leading a placement using a completely new model was extremely daunting .
I did feel very nervous and wondered how the placement would unfold . Would the student enjoy the experience and would the placement provide an opportunity for learning that would be equally as valuable as the more traditional face-face model of placement ?
With this being the first time this type of placement model had been attempted in Lanarkshire , I also felt a responsibility to try and ensure the placement was a success .
Initial planning meetings were set up between all involved and I was introduced to Nikki White , a fourthyear student , who had accepted the offer to try this type of placement . Nikki was provided with an NHS laptop , which allowed her to have an NHS secure email and access to Near Me and Microsoft Teams , which were the two platforms that the placement was based upon .
The duration of the placement was eight weeks . However , an immediate advantage of this type
34 OTnews July 2021