Education - Allied Health

Student education in allied health is an integral component of activity at St Vincent’s Hospital. Many Allied Health departments take a large number of students on a variety of clinical placements from a number of NSW tertiary education institutions. Speech Pathology (Rehabilitation), Social Work, Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy and Nutrition each have a Student Unit Supervisor position. There has been a focus on interdisciplinary learning and at St Vincent’s we have recently completed an Interprofessional Learning program (IPL).

Interprofessional learning programs
Interprofessional learning (IPL) programs have gained momentum internationally and more recently at the College of Health Sciences at the University of Sydney in 2004. Interprofessional learning has been described as “occasions when two or more professions learn from and about each other to improve collaboration and the quality of care” (Centre for Advancement of Interprofessional Education, 1997).

Clinical placement
Clinical placement provides students with an opportunity to interact with “real” patients, observe qualified practitioners’ interventions with these patients and understand the mechanisms by which hospitals deliver healthcare to the community.

The following disciplines offer Student education opportunities:

Speech pathology
Block placements and weekly placements are available. Students are also able to observe the Voice Clinic.

Read more about Speech Pathology 

Social work
Approximately 8 student placements are available each year within the Hospital. The average placement is 70 days long. Other Campus sites (Sacred Heart, Mental Health and the Community) negotiate their own placements.

In addition, the Social work department accepts work experience students (usually 2 per year, for 1 week) and Pre-social work indigenous student(s) each year from UNSW for 2 days.

Read more about Social Work

Occupational therapy
Approximately 25 students, from 4 different universities in NSW are accepted each year. They also take at least one overseas student each year. The duration of the placement varies between 2 and 12 weeks, with more than half the placements being over 5 weeks.

The majority of students spend their placement with the Student Unit Supervisor, however about one third are placed in other areas including rehabilitation and psychiatry.

Medical records
Practical placements are organised through the School of Health Information Management. On average, 5-8 students are placed twice a year, one day per week for five weeks. Working as a group they perform various departmental tasks.

Additional management placements are offered to one or two students, each year for two full weeks. The students spend their time working closely with the Health Information Manager.

Read more about Medical Records

Physiotherapy
Approximately 50-60 students, across the main hospital and Sacred Heart campus, are placed for 4 or 5 week blocks depending on the university (Sydney and Newcastle are all 5 week blocks, Charles Sturt is 4 weeks).

Read more about Physiotherapy at St Vincent’s

Pharmacy
The St Vincent’s Hospital Pharmacy Department is actively involved in the clinical training of two pre-registration pharmacists each year. The Chair of Clinical Pharmacy, which was established in 2000 with the University of Sydney, has been instrumental in ensuring active involvement with undergraduate and postgraduate pharmacy students on an ongoing basis. Practice based research particularly focussed on medication safety initiatives is a major focus for the Pharmacy Department.

A Teacher Practitioner Pharmacist in conjunction with the Chair of Clinical Pharmacy provide weekly tutorials and practical ward based experience to 3rd and 4th year pharmacy students from Sydney University. The Teacher Practitioner Pharmacist also provides tutorials to undergraduate students at the university and specialist pharmacists provide lectures to undergraduate and postgraduate students. Pharmacy students attend weekly placements with specialist pharmacists in the diabetes or cardiac outpatient clinics. The department provides two week block placements for Master of Pharmacy students twice a year and is involved in teaching medical students. While most students are from Sydney University, the department also provides placements to students from other universities.

Read more about Pharmacy services

Nutrition
Nutrition Services Department accepts four students each year from both Newcastle University and the University of Wollongong. Student placements are usually 5 weeks. Students may undertake their placement in pairs but mostly only one student is allocated to the Department.

Read more about Nutrition services

Psychology
The Psychology Department provides placement opportunities for postgraduate clinical psychology and clinical neuropsychology students from various universities. These students are Provisional Psychologists who work on clinical placements with supervision for 3-4 month blocks. Placement opportunities are provided in mental health services, neuropsychology, rehabilitation, bereavement, gambling treatment and other settings. The Psychology Department are unable to offer placements to undergraduate psychology students.

Read more about Psychology services

Useful Websites
University of Sydney - Physiotherapy