CSP launches ‘Placement Profile’ platform to showcase innovation and inspire others

The Placement Profile platform, which launched today, currently contains nine profiles of pioneering placement models from across the UK.

The online resource will be updated regularly, as new case studies are submitted, and new profiles will then be highlighted to members via the CSP website and social media channels.

Among the profiles already included is a split research and clinical placement model, jointly developed by University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust and the University of Leicester, which is outlined in further detail below.

Commenting on the launch of the new platform, CSP professional adviser Tamsin Baird said: ‘Never before have we seen such a fast pace of change and creativity in student placements.

‘Placement profile will provide a platform to capture and share the great practice that is happening within practice based learning, to showcase innovative placements and champion the work of practice educators.   

We aim to create a library of placement case studies happening across all sectors of practice, patient facing and non-patient facing alike, helping others to learn from your experiences

Let us know about your placement model

Have you tried a new placement model recently? Does it involve elements such as peer learning? Or two or more students being overseen by one practice educator? Did you involve the whole team? What have you learned? What are your top tips for others? We want to know, so please let us know.

Whether you are a practice educator or a student, or in a role where you have responsibility for the set up and delivery of a placement, we would like to hear from you.

Please fill in this form to submit your case study.

Completed case studies that are already on the platform can be viewed here. And every month a new ‘Placement Profile’ will be selected and showcased on the CSP website and across social media platforms.

March Placement Profile – Embedding the importance of research at pre-registration level in Leicester

This innovative placement model was designed collaboratively between University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust and the University of Leicester.

It saw Shani Hector, second year physiotherapy student at the University of Leicester, split her placement by spending

• three days a week working clinically in a pulmonary rehab service
• and two days working as part of their research team 

During this time, Ms Hector worked on a research project using data that she collected from her clinical practice. This allowed her to develop a research question and by the end of her placement she had produced a research abstract and presentation.

The title of her abstract and presentation was 'Home-based and hospital-based pulmonary rehabilitation in patients with COPD – does the location influence completion rates?'

Brilliantly, this work was later selected and presented as a poster at last year's vPUK conference.

Her selected poster can be viewed here

And a full profile of her placement, which provides further details of the placement model and how it worked, is available here 

A fantastic opportunity to experience a research environment

Commenting on her placement experience Ms Hector said: ‘As a student, it is incredibly important to stay open minded when it comes to placement opportunities.

Having a research placement has introduced the basis of evidence based practice early on in my career and I know it will remain a strong theme throughout.

One of her practice educators, Linzy Houchen-Wolloff, is a research physiotherapist at the Centre for Exercise and Rehabilitation Science, part of University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust.

She said: 'Research evidence underpins everything we do in physiotherapy so I think it’s important that students have exposure to research at the start of their careers

This can be as straight forward as critically appraising an article, through to analysing a dataset in the clinical speciality area

Charlotte Carter-Lang, practice education lead at the University of Leicester, added that: 'As a HEI we recognise that students graduate and follow a diverse path in their careers, with some choosing to be involved in research at a very early stage.

'Research underpins a physiotherapist’s practice and it’s a fantastic opportunity to immerse students in a research environment at such an early stage in their careers.

Working closely with the research lead at UHL we developed the placement to ensure the students meet the required learning outcomes but also gain invaluable experience, which has led to students showcasing their work at conferences. This is a rare event for students normally and it is fantastic to see.