MSc Audiology Placement

Module overview

The module will last a minimum of 40 weeks (9 months) and a maximum of 12 months starting near the beginning of the academic year. You will gain experience of, and expertise in, all procedures, types of patient appointment and other skills as listed in the syllabus below. International students requiring a Tier 4 visa must be on placement for the full 12 months. An allowance for approved leave is provided.

There will be a mix of continuous assessment and end of placement assessment.

See also the separate document Terms of Placement, which you will have accepted when accepting the offer of a placement: also available from https://www.southampton.ac.uk/engineering/postgraduate/taught_courses/audiology/msc_audiology.page within the programme specification.

This module could involve working with children and vulnerable adults, alone and unsupervised for significant periods of time, so an enhanced criminal record check is required.

Students can only start their placement once they have passed the taught component of the MSc/PG Dip (i.e. 120 CATS from Part 1 of the MSc, not including the research project), determined by an Examinations Board. For example, students are not permitted to start their placement while repeating Part 1 of the MSc/PG Dip.

Aims and Objectives

Learning Outcomes

Disciplinary Specific Learning Outcomes

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

Demonstrate readiness to seek your first job in audiology in terms of general employability
Reflect critically on, and self-motivate learning related to, your practice, your experiences, general practice and professionalism within audiology and health services.
Demonstrate safe, effective, empathetic, efficient, evidence-based, patient-centred and professional clinical practice in audiology. This requires demonstrating the: (a) competency standards described in the Individual Record of Clinical Practice (IRCP, which includes reference to clinical practice guidance and recommended procedures issued by your professional bodies); (b) standards of conduct, performance and ethics expected by your professional bodies (including the Registration Council of Clinical Physiologists, RCCP, Code of Conduct); (c) expectations of employment in healthcare services (including the principles and values that guide the NHS); (d) local standards and policies expected by your placement provider. These expectations are wide ranging and include the demonstration of knowledge, skills, attitudes and values appropriate to an RCCP-registered Clinical Physiologist (Audiology). Those skills are as also wide ranging and include observational, manual and technical skills, clinical reasoning and problem-solving, communication with the public and other health care professionals, and collaborative working in multidisciplinary teams.
Critically evaluate clinical practice in the areas covered by the IRCP in terms of underpinning theory and evidence from a range of sources (including fundamental science, clinical studies, systematic reviews, guidelines and standards).

Learning and Teaching

Teaching and learning methods

Observation of clinical practice
Participating in clinical practice under direct/indirect supervision (see Terms of Placement)
Receiving feedback on above
Self-directed study
Tutorials
Support from the clinical supervisor
A feedback visit mid-way through placement
Formal methods of formative assessment:

o Continuous assessment and feedback via the Individual Record of Clinical Practice (IRCP)

o Feedback Visit by representative of the University

o Evaluation by placement supervisor at end of placement

o Feedback on drafts of your other summative assessments

You will have two days back at the university, the travel expenses for which we will reimburse. These days will include placement support sessions, one-to-one meetings with the placement team and employability sessions. One will normally be around mid-Nov and the other will normally be in late March or early April.
Three routine telephone catch-ups with the placement lead or your personal academic tutor
Various online resources
Dedication placement support throughout placement
Statutory and mandatory training

Study time
Type	Hours
Workshops	16
Placement	1400
Tutorial	2
Total study time	1418

Resources & Reading list

General Resources

Placement Handbook. See Placement Handbook, the various resources on the Placement Website (www.southampton.ac.uk/audplace).

Assessment

Assessment strategy

You must pass all methods of assessment individually to pass the module overall; in addition, you must pass all components, sections and sub-sections of the IRCP to pass the module overall.

You are allowed to refer in (a) the written assessments; (b) the final clinical assessment (called the Assessment Visit) as part of the IRCP component of assessment as long as you have passed one of the three patient appointments (i.e. you can refer as long as you don't failed more than two patient appointments).

An internal repeat ('repeat attending') is allowed only if your first placement was not terminated under Section 9.1 (conduct/behaviour/professionalism) of the Practice Placement Agreement or by a Fitness To Practise process. The internal repeat involves completing the entire placement year with the same fees as the first placement year. The start date might be delayed (potentially by many weeks) as required to allocate you a placement, which will usually be a different location to the original placement. The internal repeat also requires starting all assessments from scratch. No aspects of the assessments from the original placement can be carried over.

An external repeat ('repeat not attending') is not available for this module.

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.

Breakdown
Method	Percentage contribution
Individual Record of Clinical Practice	100%