Great points Mike. Very much enjoyed reading your perspective. Thanks for sharing,
Best, Biraj Toronto, Canada Mike wrote: > From my experience of being a student (7 years ago), what mattered most was the > 'wow' factor -- a sense that the team and supervisor I was placed with were skilled > professionals who think critically about what they do and how they can improve it. > You also need to feel that the supervisor and team are welcoming and supportive, > approachable and open to questions. This is a bit inchoate, but so it goes. In some > places you get a feeling that having a student is something they feel obliged rather > than motivated to do, and this doesn't make for a great placement. You have to > ensure that students feel you're glad to have a student and are keen to pass on the > skills that you value having. You don't want a supervisor who gives a sense of being > stressed, jaded, disillusioned, and so on. > > You also need to make sure that you consensually agree a set of clear, measurable > and achievable aims and objectives for the placement. This should be done toward the > end of the first week and reviewed weekly thereafter. This ensures that, even if the > personal relationship is questionable, the student knows just what they need to do > to make the grade. It also makes it easier for the supervisor to grade the student's > performance when filling in the interminable and unfathomable forms the college > tutors have devised. > > The learning must be as practical and hands-on as possible, because it's in doing > that we learn best. The first placement, usually characterised as primarily > observational, is probably the most difficult for the supervisor in this respect. In > my field (community physical) this usually means getting the student to write up > case notes and assessments, fit equipment, start problem-solving on the way back > from home visits, do diagrams and plans for home adaptations, that kind of thing. > > I take about 2 students a year as a fieldwork educator and the feedback forms they > fill in more or less reflect the above. From the fieldwork educator's point of view, > the positive aspect of having a student is that it keeps you on your toes -- makes > you think about what you do, why and how -- more than you otherwise would. The > questions raised by an outsider can be quite illuminating in making you think > critically about how you work. > > Your best resource for answering this question may well be your fellow students, as > they're the ones that are having direct, contemporary experience of the fieldwork > experience. There must be some among your cohort who have had particularly positive > or negative experiences that you can draw on -- and if you or anyone else can post > examples of these to the list, I'm sure it would be interesting. Likewise, it would > be interesting to hear from OTs who have had difficult experiences of supervising a > student and how they dealt with it. > -- > Cheers, > Mike Griffin (London, UK) > www.otdirect.co.uk > > On Saturday, Nov 1, 2003, at 22:35 Europe/London, erin willmore wrote: > > I am currently an OT student and would like some information for my inservice. > The therapists I work with requested that I do an inservice on what students like > and dislike about their clinical instructors and how we as students prefer to learn. > If anyone could give me some feedback on their internships describing what they > liked and disliked with the ways they were taught or just any insight into their > experiences, I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks so much. Have a great weekend! > > Erin :) > > <image.tiff> > > Do you Yahoo!? > Exclusive Video Premiere - Britney > Spears_______________________________________________ > OTlist mailing list > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://otnow.com/mailman/listinfo/otlist_otnow.com > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > _______________________________________________ > OTlist mailing list > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://otnow.com/mailman/listinfo/otlist_otnow.com _______________________________________________ To unsubscribe, visit: http://otnow.com/mailman/listinfo/otlist_otnow.com The OTnow Mail Archive: www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED] ===============================================
