Student Support
If there are any concerns regarding student progress or the learning opportunities on placement please act early. Contact nmoore@dmu.ac.uk
University support
Each student will have a clinical tutor allocated to them as well as a personal tutor. Wherever possible the clinical tutor will be someone with knowledge of the client group with whom the student is placed. Students are encouraged to ask for help and support from their clinical tutor and all students are entitled to three hours additional support from their clinical tutor if needed. Where a student is identified as needing additional support on placement then they can access as much tutor support as necessary. Students who need support on placement have a responsibility to recognise their learning needs and must contact their clinical tutors.
De Montfort University has support for students with disabilities. Please see website link below.
Please see below for the views of students about their placement experience and the aspects that helped them to learn on placement. Please see the handbooks ( under documentation) for further support on helping student learning on placement. Scroll down to watch a video of a second year student.
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What helped learning on placement |
What is not so helpful |
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“It really helped to observe my clinician working, especially in giving feedback to parents and carers before trying it myself” “I felt more confident watching my clinician before having a try myself “ “Being made to feel part of the team, very understanding clinician who helped, me develop confidence and skills” “The feedback was very helpful and specific and was particularly useful for helping me to improve” “Regular feedback after each session was the most helpful for me” “I was given some case notes and asked to plan out what I would do for the review appointment – this made me think and my clinician gave me her view to compare” “It helped being asked to consider possible diagnosis and to produce plans each time” “Allowed to plan session alone but then had discussion and feedback” “Reading sessions plans and identifying areas for improvement helped me to link theory to practice” “Demonstration was the most useful tool- after being shown I was able to use what I had been shown” “ Reminders to use reflection” “Being allowed to have session with clients early on – I just had to get on with it!” “Really helpful if clinicians can talk through their clinical reasoning” “Supportive clinicians who saw area for me to improve and set me tasks to make it happen” “Being given a list of learning objectives and making my own timetable to do this” ““Discussing theory together invaluable” “Being given the chance to explain rationale” “Working in a team with another student” “Clinicians talking aloud about why they do things and what influences their decisions” “Being able to run plans for sessions past clinician before carrying them out” “Feedback and rationalising what therapy was conducted and why” “Regular feedback and being watched some of the time- it worked for me” “I was given a range of options for diagnosis and intervention and then had to rationalise my choice” “Discussion of clients helped me to identify areas I had not thought of” “Being allowed to observe initially and then gradually being given more responsibility and independence by the end” “I was give three two main clients and had a few more to observe clinicians working with. This helped me to learn and try out skills” “Really clear concise advice about how to consider where to go next with therapy” “Dedicated time at the half way review” “having very clear articulation of expectations from clinicians” “Being stretched so felt as if developing and learning” “Feeling able to ask questions” “ Being advised what to read” “carrying out lots of independent session” “working with three clinicians was amazing as I got the chance to see three completely different approaches” |
“Having very little feedback during the placement and only really finding out how to make progress in the final assessment” “Would have appreciated clinicians taking some time to explain how to link practise with theory” “Feeling like I was being tested and not allowed to make mistakes” “Clinicians who share the placement talking to each other so that feedback is more consistent” “Very different expectation from different supervisors, being told case-notes were great by one and that they were not right by the other” “Being tough is not always the right approach for everyone, if all of the feedback is negative it knocks confidence” “Being judged when it is not clear about how the clinicians is making decisions – if you have not been watched for instance” “..not being given enough responsibility for planning my own sessions” “..not having any chance to observe practice- not able to observe my clinician working” “To have a better understanding of how much time the clinician and student can have contact as sometimes it felt as if I was putting the clinician out” “Split the placement between 2 rather than 3 educators as found it difficult to adjust to three ways of working” “There is a conflict between a clinician helping you and assessing you. Most students need to ask questions and it can feel like being tested all the time.” “Confrontational questioning is not always effective” “Having a balance of hands on and observing therapist, as not much chance to observe” “Too much observation with one clinician” “A placement which is all consultative is really difficult for students without any hands on experience” “Clinicians who expect students to be confident in carrying out assessments when they have very little experience with them” “Having three completely different client groups on placement felt like not enough time to learn in depth”
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Lyndsey was in her second year when she recorded this interview. Here she talk about her first clinical placement.
Question: “What makes a good placement from a student perspective?”
Question: “What helped you to learn on placement?”
Question: “What kind of activities were you involved in whilst you were on placement?”
Question: “What were the biggest challenges on this first placement?”