A successful placement is a collaborative effort between the student and their educator. It involves effective feedback and mentoring on the part of the educator . For the student managing a successful placement involves a willingness and initiative in becoming independent in their own learning, and developing a skill for self-regulation of learning and clinical reasoning.

Effective feedback is vital to enable learning, improve work and empower students to take more control of their skill development and understanding of the concepts underpinning physiotherapy practices. Practice Educators provide regular, structured supervision and constructive feedback to the student, throughout clinical placements using the TCD Student Pathway process and the Five-Minute Feedback Form.

There are many approaches and models of feedback, and education resources are available in the short online education intervention ‘Feedback in the Clinical Setting’ and from the Practice Education Team.

Feedback is considered a shared responsibility between the student and the educator. Good feedback develops a dialogue about learning and encourages students to self-reflect on their performance to close the gap between their current and desired performance. This process facilitates the development of an autonomous practitioner, who meets the core standards of physiotherapy practice, and is ready to join an ever-evolving profession.

CORU is the national regulator of Health and Social Care professions in Ireland. The Physiotherapists Registration Board set standards for the delivery of education and training in Ireland for physiotherapists, approves, and monitors programmes against these standards. As part of their Standards of Proficiency for Physiotherapy, the student is required to successfully complete a minimum of 1000 hours in clinical practice before they can receive their final degree. Furthermore, all practice educators are required to undertake training in the area of practice education.

The full criterion for practice placement is set out in page 16 of this document.