Practice Education within the Discipline of Occupational Therapy strives to develop excellence in supporting students in their integration of theory-based learning with practice. The Practice Education Team are committed to the provision of high-quality education and support to all Practice Education stakeholders; students, the practice education team and placement providers.
Practice Education is an integral and central component of the Discipline of Occupational Therapy four-year degree curriculum. The Practice Education team values the partnership between the practice educator, the student and the university and aims to cultivate these relationships through ongoing support, teaching and research.
Values:
The Practice Education programme at Trinity combines lectures, tutorials, workshops, self-directed learning, reflective practice, and practice education placements in a range of clinical settings. The Practice Education programme integrates with all other strands of the course, ensuring that students graduate meeting the standards of proficiency as specified by CORU.The Practice Education modules and placements on the Occupational Therapy programme at Trinity have been designed to comply and meet with both national and international requirements. These include the following:
These Requirements and Standards stipulate that all students are required to complete a minimum of 1,000 hours of Practice Education over the course of the programme and demonstrate competence and standards of proficiency under the supervision of a qualified and nationally registered occupational therapist with at least one-year clinical experience. Trinity complies with these 1,000 hours and ensures that students complete a minimum of 250 hours within a mental health and/or psychosocial setting and a minimum of 250 hours within a physical/ sensory disability practice setting (CORU, 2017). Students engage with Practice Education in each year of the Occupational Therapy course. By the end of the fourth year of the undergraduate programme at Trinity, each student will have completed at least 1,000 hours of practice education. All practice educations hours for each student is maintained on a database within the Discipline of Occupational Therapy.
*Please note that these requirements and standards may change given the current circumstances associated with COVID-19.
Practice Education placements take place across the four years of the Occupational Therapy programme. The Practice Education placements are of sufficient duration to allow integration of theory to practice and vary in length in line with the degree programme structure. The following table provides an overview of the placement schedule.
Please be advised that there may be changes to the dates and durations of the placements outlined in this section as a result of COVID-19.
