Here at the University of Worcester we approach Therapy Practice Education as a shared endeavour. Both our BSc and newly developed MSc (Pre-registration) Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy courses run in parallel, allowing inter-professional learning where shared professional requirements exist. The courses are based within a spiral curriculum that promotes developing competence and practice; the complexity of learning increases with each placement and year and it is expected that students will develop their skills and competencies progressively throughout the program.
The practice education team facilitate the sourcing and organisation of placements and ensure the quality and review of practice learning processes across the courses. The practice education team consists of a Practice Education Lead and 2 WTE Practice Education Lecturers - one WTE per profession. The placement team oversees placement sourcing and provision and ensures quality. We provide and monitor for practice educators (PEs) who support students in practice, and ensure that students are placed appropriately so that they gain a broad profile of practice experience. The team works closely with the University's central Work Based Learning Support Office, who provide administration, allocation and quality assurance checking.
We actively promote and support placements that fall outside of the tradition boundaries. These placements offer opportunities to work with people in areas where there isn’t a therapist employed full time, or at all. There are many benefits of completing a contemporary placement, including introduction to alternative practice and work opportunities, assisting in the development of the profession in new and emerging areas of practice and project management. Personal benefits can include development of innovative and creative thinking and implementation, and increased independence and self-leadership.
If you are a practicing Occupational Therapist or Physiotherapist who would like to get involved with Practice Education, you can book onto one of our training courses by visiting our Practice Education webpage at: https://www.worcester.ac.uk/therapy-practice-education
If you would like to learn more about providing placements, are wondering how you can support practice education, and ESPECIALLY if you think there is no way that you could provide a placement in your workplace, we'd really love to hear from you. We love problem-solving and creatively thinking about how we can make the seemingly impossible, possible - after all, isn't that what our professions are all about? Please email our team at: therapyplacements@worc.ac.uk