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JCPSLP
Volume 17, Number 1 2015
Journal of Clinical Practice in Speech-Language Pathology
(Participant 4), but were able to reduce the amount of
time clinicians spent on paperwork, leading to an overall
workload reduction for the clinicians. Group A clinicians
also reported that having students deliver treatment freed
their time to get other tasks done (e.g., emails, phone calls
and planning): “you have an extra pair of hands round the
place” (Participant 4).
Another benefit reported by Group A only was that
having students in private practice provides an opportunity
for future recruitment: “I find a key benefit is that you get to
see how they work. Do they fit the culture?” (Participant 5).
This finding is consistent with that of Sloggett et al. (2003),
who reported that students were seen as good recruitment
potential by the occupational therapists in their study.
Given the increase in private practice reported earlier, with
future growth anticipated as a result of initiatives such as
the NDIS, being able to employ graduates who are ready
for work is likely to be a beneficial outcome for private
practitioners who take students on placements.
Speech pathologists who had supervised students
expressed high levels of satisfaction with student
placements they had provided. They conveyed a sense of
enjoyment and reward in having students in their practices.
All but one of the clinicians reported that they planned
to continue to take students on placement in the future.
These clinicians also spoke about their clients’ satisfaction
with their interactions with students, and their perceptions
of student satisfaction with private practice placements.
Typical comments appear in Table 5.
Conclusion
This article reports on a study of the views of speech
pathology private practitioners regarding the barriers and
benefits of supervising student placements in private
practice. We interviewed two groups of private
practitioners: those who had taken students (Group A) and
those who had not (Group B). We found that regardless of
whether private practitioners had taken students or not,
they all agreed that private practice settings had a role to
play in the preparation of graduates for this setting. The
participants also reported that this setting had unique
things to offer students on placements; for example,
experiences with service delivery models different to the
public sector (e.g., no limit on client access to services),
opportunities to build business and practice management
skills, and an opportunity to learn from the underutilised
resource of very experienced clinicians. As stated by
Table 4. Participants’ perceptions of benefits associated with having students in private practice
Category
Subcategory
Found in Group A:
those who had taken
students on placements
Group B: those who
had not taken students
on placements
Benefits for the client
Long-term clients enjoy and benefit from the change
from clinician to student
*
*
Exposure to new and fun ideas
*
Able to offer clients more for less cost
*
Increased learning and
professional development
Access to current literature and new ideas, helping
to promote EBP
*
*
The opportunity to reflect on own practices and
clarifying own clinical processes and thinking
*
*
Opportunity to utilise skills otherwise un-utilised
(e.g., teaching and facilitation of adult learning)
*
Rewarding/ enjoyable for the
clinician
*
Increased productivity and
diversity of service
Reduced workload overall
*
Additional help with running groups and programs
*
Capacity to offer increased range of service delivery
and services
*
Resource development
*
*
Running of projects including quality improvement
*
Potential recruitment of
employees
*
Growth of the profession
Fulfilling a professional responsibility
*
*
Making a positive impact on future generation of
clinicians
*
*
Improving the profile of the profession
*
* = found in data from this group