Student placements for final year OD students – Can you help?
Expressions of interest for 2020 OD4 student placements are now open!
Why consider a placement for an OD4 student?
University of Melbourne students are keen to learn about independent practice as a viable and enjoyable way to practice optometry. Hence, we are interested in creating an independent metropolitan experience in Melbourne (or nearby) for all students in their final year. If you are in a rural area or an interstate metropolitan location we would still be interested to hear from you. A number of our students are from interstate, and country placements facilitate exposure to a breadth of optometric practice.
Current placement providers say they are involved to:
- Give back to the profession
- Give students a chance to see independent optometry in action
- Get to meet final year students in case they are looking for a new employee
- Keep up to date – they learn from the students while the students learn from them
When?
We are looking for practices to take students between March through to early October 2020. At this stage we are looking for anybody who is interested, and then details can be worked through. In particular, March/April and August/September are times that work well for our program. The placements are for two weeks for between three to five days per week.
What do we expect from placement providers?
We expect enthusiasm for teaching the next generation of optometrists. We don’t expect assessment of students as this is done through their other clinical experiences (particularly at UMeyecare and the ACO). We expect you to mentor the students. Students will be looking for feedback, because we value and they value what you say. We will offer you face to face and online training opportunities if you would like to be involved.
If interested, please email Daryl Guest (daryl.guest@unimelb.edu.au) or Anthea Cochrane (antheac@unimelb.edu.au).