Organisation(s)

AECC University Speech and Language Therapy Teaching Team

Trialled a split clinical placement with a pair of first year MSc Speech and Language Therapy students

Summary of placement

Two services felt they did not have the capacity to offer a full placement four days a week for six weeks. It was agreed to trial a split placement where a pair of students were on placement in an acute hospital stroke unit two days a week and with a private speech and language therapy rehabilitation team two days a week for a six week placement block.

The students were paired together and had two named practice educators in each service. They gained experience of working with SLTs in an acute inpatient (stroke) service and in community neurological rehabilitation.

Benefits

  • Broad range of clinical experiences gained

  • Students enjoyed the mix of placement settings and having exposure to different clinicians and ways of working

  • Students were able to see the pathway from acute to community

Challenges

  • Being split between two separate settings made it harder for the students to settle, feel confident in each setting and gain the skills they needed

  • Having multiple PEs meant time was limited with each one

Advice you’d give to others

  • If needing to split a placement, ensure only one PE for each setting

  • Split placement would work better if split clinical/non-clinical rather than two different clinical areas

  • Better for 1st year placements, as 2nd years would struggle to achieve autonomy when they have less time in a setting