Promoting positive occupational therapy student placement experiences in rural Queensland

Promoting positive occupational therapy student placement experiences in rural Queensland

Introduction: Universities and health services are being faced with the challenge of increased student numbers, resulting in an increased demand for student placements. Despite the increasing demand, numerous barriers exist, preventing maximal use of available rural placements in Queensland. The importance of rural placement experiences is highlighted by data from 2011 and 2012 indicating 46% of new graduates working rurally had a student placement with the same health service.
Objectives: This paper describes the strategies to promote rural placements used by the Queensland Health Occupational Therapy Clinical Education Program across nine of the state’s regional and rural health services.
Method: Strategies included: advertising rural placements to university students; promoting positive stories about rural areas; developing placement profiles; presentations to students by rural health service clinical education staff; and facilitating student sharing of their rural placement experience with peers.
Results: While there has been a general increase in the uptake of rural placements over the past years, data collected in 2011 and 2012 indicate that 30% of student placements were unfilled. This shows that there is potential for increase in student placement numbers in rural Queensland.
Conclusion: The implementation of targeted strategies in Queensland has been associated with an increased uptake of rural placements. Consequently, there has been improved rural new graduate recruitment. Determining which strategies are most successful may assist in further increasing the number of rural placements. The strategies used in Queensland may be applicable to other regions and disciplines facing similar issues.

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