SpeakOut
April 2014
21
TheQueenslandHealth
statewide
SpeechPathologyClinical Education
Program (SPCEP), established in2007,
has strived toachieveexcellenceand
innovation inclinical education. The
programcurrently includes a statewide
SpeechPathologyClinical Education
ProgramManager roleand8.35 (FTE)
designatedclinical educationpositions
(Clinical EducationSupportOfficers)
allocatedacrossQueensland.
Context
There has been significant growth in
speech pathology university programs
(from two to six), speech pathology
student numbers (130% increase) and
student placement demand (191%
increase) withinQueensland over the
last three years. This has occurred
alongside implementation of the national
health reform agenda. TheSPCEP have
recognised the need tomaintain and
grow clinical placement supply over
the next three yearswith a focus on
partnershipswith under utilised sectors
and investigation of innovative clinical
placement and supervisionmodels.
Achievements
A number of our projects and activities
have been recognised as innovations
in the field of clinical education through
the awarding of research grants,
presentations at national conferences
andwithin individual hospital and health
services. Below follows a brief snapshot
of some of these projects and activities.
• Quality andevidencebasedclinical
education strategies and resources
TheSPCEP is engaged in
implementation of the iQIPP-AH
(ImprovingQuality inPractice
Placements), a reflective tool developed
by theUniversity of QueenslandSchool
of Health andRehabilitationSciences,
to assist university education staff,
organisations, clinical educators and
students to enhance the quality of
learning environments and outcomes.
Students routinely evaluate the quality
of their placements using surveys that
include the parameters identified in the
iQIPP-AH.
• Sustainable systems tomaximise
placement capacity
By establishing a range of clinical
education key performance indicators,
including a ratioof 30days of clinical
placement offeredper available full time
equivalent staff member, placement
capacity has grown from 5957
placement days offered in 2009 to
11694.5placement days offered in 2013.
Student led clinical placements,
collaborative andpairedplacement
models, sharedplacementmodels, rural
placements and cross-over placements,
that include training in acute and
residential care settings, have all been
utilised to increase the number of
placements provided.
• Confident and competent clinical
educators, students andnew
graduates
Within their roles, theSpeechPathology
Clinical EducationSupport Officers
(CESO), offer a range of support
anddevelopment strategies tobuild
capabilitywithin clinical educators,
newly graduated staff (NG) and their
professional supervisors.
Clinical educators:
access to
education opportunities, preparation for
placements, and trouble-shootingduring
placements.
Students:
direct clinical supervision and
supporting clinical educator workload
through liaisonwith universities, student
preparation and orientation, tutorials
andpeer support (both interprofessional
anddiscipline specific), and support or
advice during the placement.
NewGraduate clinicians and their
clinical supervisors:
support provided
across diverse services and geographic
locations includingmentoring,
supervision, facilitation of access topeer
support, and tutorials (inter-professional/
discipline specific). A recently launched,
multi-site inter-professional workshop,
attendedby seven allied health
professions, utilises awebbased
resource (FlyingStart) to support not
only newgraduate clinicians but also
their professional supervisors.
• Collaboration andPartnerships
TheSPCEP, in particular the statewide
programmanager, plays an active role in
representing and advocating for speech
pathology clinical education at a number
of strategic forums, for example the
QueenslandSpeechPathologyClinical
EducationCollaborative (QSPCEC).
A recent innovative partnership:
aSPCEPproject, “Inter-service
collaboration: meeting education and
healthcare needs” was recognised at
a hospital and health serviceAustralia
Day Award ceremony for increasing
placement capacity by creating
partnerships across public health and a
non-governmental organisation.
For further information please contact
NicolaGraham,
NicolaGraham
StatewideClinical EducationProgram
Manager,QueenslandHealth
RonelleHewetson
Clinical Educator
BRANCHnews
QUEENSLAND
ExperiencesofastatewideClinicalEducationProgram
