In this first practice education unit, students will observe and demonstrate occupational therapy professional skills and competencies required for occupational therapy practice. Under moderate supervision, students will practice authentic occupational therapy, implementing the occupational therapy process and competencies through a range of activities including observation and participation in occupational therapy programs and service delivery. The placement may be in traditional or non-traditional areas of practice.
This unit includes 125 hours of practice education contributing to the 1000 hours of practice education mandated by the World Federation of Occupational Therapists and is guided by the Australian Minimum Competency Standards for New Graduate Occupational Therapists (Occupational Therapy Board of Australia 2018). Students must attend intensive preparation session(s) either online or in-person of 6 hours prior to the commencement of practice education either online or in-person and reflective session(s) of 4 hours post the practice education experience.
To meet accreditation requirements students must attend the 125 practice education hours (approximately 10 hours over 12 weeks). Practice education projects will be allocated by CDU. The projects will be either online and/or in-person. Students will need to liaise with the host organisation about their requirements for attendance and the format of the project (as either in-person or online) to meet the needs of the organisation. Please refer to the Faculty of Health website for further details on the requirements for placements and other important information.
