As part of SPA's role as student advocates, our director Pauline Murcott, has put together a submission towards the Clinical Supervisor Support Program (CSSP), which was organised by Health Workforce Australia (HWA).
Key issues addressed in this paper include:
- The need for clinical training to compliment and build upon academic work.
- Clinical supervisors need adequate support and training to ensure an appropriate learning experience for students.
- Clinical placement opportunities for students Australia wide need to be increased.
- Students need to be adequately prepared for placement.
SPA highlighted the need for clarification of exactly what ‘clinical supervision’ means, as there is a need to highlight the importance of the education/mentor role which is fundamental in facilitating student development.
Clinical supervisors need to recognize the student experiential learning challenges, promote positive learning environments and endeavour to enhance student competencies whilst on placement.
Furthermore, SPA recommends the implementation of clinical placement orientation programs for student paramedics prior to placement to ensure psychological readiness and realistic expectations.
The full submission can be found below. Although it is a bit of a read it is very well written and quite interesting, particularly if you are a paramedic student likely to be engaging in clinical placements in the future.
Download the full Submission here.
