Student Physiotherapist Review

I very much enjoyed my placements as they gave me an opportunity to experience what life after university will be like. I had 5 six week placements covering a variety of different work places and team working. It gave me the opportunity to put all the content I had learnt at university and put it into practice, it was a very good feeling putting theory into practice as is made me appreciate all that I had leant.

I felt very much valued on my placements especially toward the last few weeks once I had become independent in my practice. During the first few weeks it is easy to feel like a burden as you feel you are slowing other team members with questions, however members often don’t mind as it is to further your learning, and enable you to become automanous in your work in future weeks. The majority of staff were very friendly and welcoming, especially when you fit in well with the team.

I revived much support throughout the placement being a student. I had a clinical educator who supervise me throughout the duration. I also had a visit from a lecture mid way for further support and guidance, and my academic adviser was also at hand for any concerns or queries I had. I felt I had a enough support, but at the same time was given enough freedom to be independent.

The skills I developed and the information I learnt will help me immensely in the future as my placement was in the same profession as my chosen career. The communication skills, teamworking, and knowledge will be invaluable to future career prospects. There is so much transfer of skills and what I did and learnt on placement will be what I’m doing in the future but independently.

The placement was fairly well structured, all placements follow the same structure for all students and therefore the structure and lay out is consistent and well established. They are always 6 weeks long with a half was formative a assessment. Learning objectives are established in the first week and revisited on a weekly basis. Most of these places have students on a regular basis and therefore a a solid structure with lots of student guides in place.

The atmosphere varies from place to place as most were in a hospital setting. This meant that different wards had different atmospheres depending on the type of patients there. In general, however, there is very much a team feel working and a strong hard work ethic. I would say most places were generally upbeat, but the people in the specific team make a massive difference. I was lucky enough to be put in some very nice teams of people.

There was many in service training sessions, and time was allocated for my personal training and learning. I was given a clinical educator who spent time showing me how things ran, how to do the practical and paperwork side of the work. I spent a lot of time with this person who initially has less time to do work as they are with me, but by then end I can help with the case load. I think time with a student is a worthy investment as they are the future employees.

I would say that I know exactly what it is like/ would be like to have a full time roll at the establishment as I was working 9-5 and by the end doing the same work as a qualified member. Apart from some technical work and specific paper work that I was not shown as it wasn’t relevant for my learning, I was exposed to the everyday working environment and what working in this job would intail.

The Culture and work ethic varied from ward to ward, however there is a very professional culture that needs to be established when working in healthcare. Privacy, patient information and data protection is all very important. There very much a collaborative team working culture from many different professions to provide the best quality of care of people.

What I have learnt and experienced on this placement has helped me confirm my career choice. It has shown me what it would be like to work in this profession in terms of work load, work type, atmosphere, hours and many more. Every aspect of working professionally has been cover by my placements- there is still so much more to learn, but I feel this is definitely the career I would like to go into based on my university and these placements.

I was adequately reinbersed for my placements including travel but also accommodation of I had to live away in order to complete the placement. I was not paid for my placements, however I don’t feel I should have been as I was learning the whole time and needed a lot of support at certain times which paid qualified would not need. I feel I was compensated enough through travel and accommodation.

There were a few opportunities to meet other employees within the building and who were working for other services if they related to my given placement. Networking is not a vitally important part of my chose career but Is still useful to have. Many hospitals and trusts are interlinked though patients and joint services and therefore you are constantly exposed to new opportunities to communicate with people outside of your work.

There were a few opportunities to meet other employees outside of our work who were working for other services if they related to my given placement. Networking is not a vitally important part of my chose career but Is still useful to have. I was not personally part of many social or networking events and so can not really fully comment on this question. However, many hospitals and trusts are interlinked though patients and joint services and therefore you are constantly exposed to new opportunities to communicate with people outside of your work sometimes through conferences or meetings.

There was not a huge amount of activities that employees could get involved with outside of work, however there are several classes such as yoga, dance or spin classes that colleuges attended. If someone was leaving or if there was a birthday, sometimes a flyer or email would go around inviting all employees to the specific party of do. I personally did not attend many out of work events as a student.

I would most definitely recommend getting a placement if you are interested in a particular career type. It has helped my learn so much and I have grown as a person, my confident and communication has improved dramatically. I feel it has set me up well for future job prospects, and I can transfer a lot of the skill learnt into the future.