Speak Out April 2020 DIGITAL VERSION. pdf

Branch News

Western Australia

WA 1218 members as at March 2020

Elizabeth will have has the opportunity to form long term relationships with placement sites and follow clients and programs for a longer time than in a traditional placement. Immersion will result in increased understanding of rural health. A part time placement allows for better balance between work, study and her placement. It is hoped she will have an increased integration within the rural community both professionally and socially. Midwest communities and community placement sites enjoy supporting students and will form greater bonds with students who are here for longer placements. The long-term benefit for the rural communities is that students are more likely to return to that town or another rural community in the future. Clinical educators aim to share a love for rural health over the longer placement with students who are interested in rural practice. A year also offers increased opportunities for a wide range of experiences for students, allowing more time for covering all range of practice requirements. WACRH plan to offer year-long speech pathology placements on an ongoing basis and look forward to discussing partnerships with interested universities. Kathryn Fitzgerald & Belinda Goodale Contact details: Ph. 08 9956 0200 Elizabeth preparing for an outreach trip with clinical educators Kathryn Fitzgerald and Belinda Goodale.

placement is designed to be flexible to allow her to meet on-campus commitments at ECU as well as fitting in with coursework. ECU offer tutorials with other students on placement via video link up and this is an ongoing support for all students including those in rural and remote placements. The placement is designed to prepare students for entry-level rural speech pathology practice, and the experiences Elizabeth will have are carefully balanced to achieve this. Throughout the year she will participate in service learning placement opportunities at residential aged care facilities, at an Aboriginal Medical Service, with WACRH student teaching clinics for adults, hospital-based rehabilitation, outreach visits to Yalgoo, and complete a block placement in the remote community of Mount Magnet. The placement includes a significant amount of interprofessional learning with other health science students such as exercise physiology, occupational therapy, pharmacy and physiotherapy. Elizabeth will gain experience in all areas of practice including swallowing, speech, language, voice and multimodal. Proposed benefits There are proposed benefits to a year-long placement for Elizabeth, the Geraldton and Midwest region, and clinical educators:

Kathryn.fitzgerald@uwa.edu.au Belinda.goodale@uwa.edu.au

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April 2020 www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au

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