JCPSLP Vol 23, Issue 1 2021

spirits or constrain therapy with students modelling sound production to clients using iPad recordings. At the end of the placement, feedback from students suggested they felt informed, safe and were appreciative of the lengths taken to ensure their first clinical experience was worthwhile. A further 46 students successfully completed a 6-week face-to-face placement from October to November. It certainly was a rollercoaster ride for everyone. While we won’t be sad to see the back of 2020 there are some nuggets of learning we will take from this experience. In the face of adversity, we know we can be adaptable and resilient, and so can our students. Dr Rachel Davenport is the clinical education coordinator for the Discipline of Speech Pathology at LaTrobe University, Victoria. Nikki Worthington is paediatric coordinator at the LaTrobe Communication Clinic at LaTrobe University.

students had family members with health conditions or had one themselves; the desire for students to have a “real” clinical experience was quickly outweighed by the need to keep everyone safe. And so, the decision was made by all those involved to move to telehealth. With no time to prepare students for this service delivery model, we agreed that students would do all the planning including developing resources and clinical educators would deliver these sessions to the clients (pre-school children). Group reflections after each session allowed students to identify aspects of their plan that worked well and to consider what changes could be made for the following week. As numbers finally began to fall, a last decision was needed: whether to return to campus. Timetables were amended quickly which gave students an additional 3 weeks of face-to-face sessions. This was supported wholeheartedly by families, students and staff. Even the addition of masks as well as face shields didn’t dampen our

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JCPSLP Volume 23, Number 1 2021

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