Role of the Practice Education Team

The role of the practice education team is to support the student and the practice educator during the placement.

 The practice education team comprises of the practice education coordinator (PEC) who co-ordinates practice education and addresses matters in relation to clinical practice from UCC. 2 regional placement facilitators (RPF) and 4 practice tutors (PT) have a dual role supporting the SLT in training and Practice Educator on practice education placement.

 The goals of practice education for the course are:

• To provide students with clinical experience that is problem-based and theory-driven, and which complements the academic curriculum.
• To provide students with a variety of experiences in planning, implementing and evaluating speech, language, communication and swallowing intervention for people with communication disorders.
• To provide students with the experience of working with other professionals involved with the management of people with communication disorders.
• To support students to become independent Speech and Language Therapists.

 Weekly Practice Education

Students attend a 6-12-week practice education placement consisting of 1-2 days per week with placement providers in the HSE-South area during second and third year.

Block Practice Education

Students will be allocated practice education placement throughout the country and must be prepared to travel outside of Cork city and county and/or arrange short-term accommodation near the placement sites and students will incur the costs of travel to clinical locations as well as the costs of accommodation. Students must work with any client-group as determined by the placement provider.

 1^st year: The block practice education placement is scheduled for 5 days over 1-2 weeks.

2^nd & 3^rd : The block practice education placement is scheduled for 2-4 days a week over 4-8 weeks.

4^th year: The block practice education placement is scheduled for 2-4 days a week over 7-13 weeks.