The programme aims to support trainees in the development of core competencies across the three years of training.
Trainees gain experience of working across the life-span. This can include working in residential, community and health settings, and with people with moderate distress to severe and/or enduring problems.
How Are Placements Monitored?
Trainees will be visited at least once per placement by a member of the programme team.
Clinical supervisors offering placements are expected to provide supervision in line with BPS guidelines. We provide training events to support them with this. We also gather feedback on supervision from trainees to monitor this.
Initial Placement Meeting
The advisor meets with the supervisor and trainee at the beginning of the first placement to agree a placement contract. This discussion will cover arrangements for work particularly related to the specialty, identifying particular aspects of work that the trainee needs to develop and supervision arrangements.
In subsequent placements, the responsibility for agreeing the placement plan rests with the trainee and supervisor. The exception for this is if it is the first time that a supervisor has provided a placement for the Course, or the trainee is struggling with some aspect of the course. In these instances the advisor will join the initial placement meeting. The trainee will be expected to contact the supervisor before the placement starts, to discuss the practical arrangements and initial ideas for the placement plan. The trainee will be expected to complete the standard Placement Contract form with the supervisor, within a fortnight of commencement of the placement. The contract should be copied to the programme by the trainee within two weeks of the start of the placement so that the content can be monitored.
Mid-Placement Review
Half way through each placement the trainee's advisor meets with the supervisor and trainee for a mid-placement review. The advisor meets with both the supervisor and the trainee alone, and then all three meet together. These discussions provide opportunities to discuss general progress, identify areas of strength, areas for development, further targets, and any additional work that needs to be carried out. Within this, both supervisor and trainee feedback are sought and considered. Two pieces of paperwork are completed at this meeting. The competency evaluation form which is completed by the supervisor, and a record of the mid-placement review. These are completed on the Pebblepad platform.
End of Placement Arrangements
At the end of the placement, the supervisor completes the end of placement competency form and discusses this with the trainee. Trainees are also asked to provide feedback about the placement and supervision on the forms provided. This should be done after the Supervisor has provided their feedback. The end of placement forms are completed on the Pebblepad platform. Trainees also need to keep a log of their clinical work.
If at any stage during the placement either the trainee or the supervisor is concerned about any aspect then contact is made, as soon as possible, with the trainee's advisor or a senior member of the programme team. This triggers a meeting with the trainee, supervisor and advisor/member of the course team where a plan to address concerns and identify a pathway for the trainee to pass the placement is identified.
International Training Opportunity
In July 2016 the Department of Clinical Psychology at UEA undertook its first International Training Opportunity (ITO). Two ClinPsyD trainees successfully applied to complete this, as part of their final clinical placements.
This was supported by a small bursary designed to cover travel and basic accommodation costs. The ITO is open to all of our students in their final year of training as long as they have successfully completed all assignments to that point.
Placements
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Trainees undertake two placements per year. In Year 1, they complete adult and older adult placements. In Year 2 they complete learning disabilities and child placements. In the final year potential specialist placements are identified by the trainee from a database of available placements. The ethos of specialist placements is to identify competency gaps not covered in the first four placements. There is rich variety of specialist placements available, for example forensic, neuropsychology, specialist centres for brain injury, clinical health psychology, social services, leadership skills and specific therapeutic modalities including CAT and CBT.
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The number of days trainees are required to spend on placement varies across the three years. Trainees can be on placement for up to 4 days per week. They are also allocated research and study days to help them manage the varying demands of the programme, for example, thesis research.
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Placements are typically allocated within a trainee’s base location or a location geographically close to this base.
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In the third year, trainees are able to indicate their preferences for specialist placements from our database of specialist placements available. Whilst trainees can opt for specialist placement preferences outside of their base location, priority is always given to trainees who have been allocated to that placement base at the start of training.
To give an idea about the experience of participating in the International Training Opportunity, here is a video made by four trainees who recently completed their placements in Malaysia and Australia.