Occupational Therapy Professional Practice 1 PG (8350.6)

Required texts

Recommended Texts

Different practice education placements may have specific recommended texts. The texts listed below contain information that deals with a wide range of practice areas.
Students are recommended to read the specific chapters of these books that deal with the practice area in which they will be working.

Brown, T., Bourke-Taylor, H. M., Isbel, S., Cordier, R., & Gustafsson, L. (Eds.). (2021). Occupational therapy in Australia: Professional and practice issues (2nd ed.). Routledge. 

Curtin, M., Adams, J., & Egan, M. (2017). Occupational therapy for people experiencing illness, injury or impairment (7th ed.). Elsevier Health Sciences.

Egan, M., & Restall, G. (Eds.). (2022). Promoting occupational participation: Collaborative relationship-focused occupational therapy. Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists. 

Thew, M., Edwards, M., Baptiste, S., & Molineux, M. (Eds.). (2011). Role emerging occupational therapy: Maximising occupation-focused practice. Wiley-Blackwell.

Submission of assessment items

Extensions & Late submissions

Assessments are viewed as a whole. You must pass all assessment items to pass the unit.

Special assessment requirements

Assessments are viewed as a whole. You must pass all assessment items to pass the unit.

Supplementary assessment

No supplementary assessment offered for this unit.

Academic integrity

Students have a responsibility to uphold University standards on ethical scholarship. Good scholarship involves building on the work of others and use of others' work must be acknowledged with proper attribution made. Cheating, plagiarism, and falsification of data are dishonest practices that contravene academic values. Refer to the University's Student Charter for more information.

To enhance understanding of academic integrity, all students are expected to complete the Academic Integrity Module (AIM) at least once during their course of study. You can access this module within UCLearn (Canvas) through the 'Academic Integrity and Avoiding Plagiarism' link in the Study Help site.

Use of Text-Matching Software

The University of Canberra uses text-matching software to help students and staff reduce plagiarism and improve understanding of academic integrity. The software matches submitted text in student assignments against material from various sources: the internet, published books and journals, and previously submitted student texts.

Moderation Process

In the case of practice education /clinical placements, fieldwork, or other forms of practicums, moderation processes will be outlined on Canvas.

Learner engagement

This is an industry-based placement. It is expected that students will attend normal work hours for the area they are placed for eight weeks. Combined with the work done for the Canvas and Mahara sessions this should make a total of around 300 hours for this unit. It is the student's responsibility to record and maintain evidence (timesheets) that they have completed the required hours for placement.

Some placements may include shift hours and weekend work. See placement information on the Canvas site and communicate with the allocated placement contact for specific hours for specific work sites.

Inclusion and engagement

Any adjustment to the requirements of the practice education placement set out in this unit outline requires approval from the inclusion and engagement office (InclusionUC) and the unit convenor prior to placement allocation.

Reasonable Adjustment Plans and Extenuating Circumstances applications must be approved 10 weeks prior to the start of the placement.  A placement might not be secured when Reasonable Adjustment Plans or Extenuating Circumstances applications are received after this date.

Participation requirements

This Unit contains learning outcomes that are essential to meeting the Australian Occupational Therapy Competency Standards (2018). Except in the case of extenuating circumstances, 100% attendance is expected in all practice placements. It is expected that students unable to fulfill these participation requirements will inform the Unit Convener and their Practice Educator as soon as practical, by telephone or email. Absence from external placement activities must also be reported to the Practice Educator and Unit Convener. Failure to adhere to these requirements may result in failure of the associated assessment piece. Consideration will be given for illness; however evidence such as a medical certificate will be required.

Required IT skills

The use of Canvas, Mahara, InPlace, web-based communication systems (such as Teams, Webex, Zoom), library searching skills and word processing skills are necessary for this unit.

In-unit costs

Students are required to cover the costs of traveling to and from the placement and associated accommodation costs incurred during the placement. It is expected that over the duration of their course, all students will complete at least one placement in rural, regional or remote Australia.

Work placement, internships or practicums

This unit involves professional practicum and therefore, additional student responsibilities are required in addition to those described in this section. Workplace learning requires strict adherence to professional practice principles and ethics. Client/patient confidentiality must always be maintained, including for assessment items such as reports or essays. The professional nature of this unit also requires 100% participation at all learning activities (lectures, practicals etc. if scheduled – see section 3) for the successful completion of this unit (also see section 6c). If attendance requirements cannot be satisfied (e.g. timetable clash), it is recommended that you meet with your Course Convener to schedule this unit for a future semester.

UC pre-placement requirements
As part of this unit, students must complete their pre-placement requirements before being able to undertake professional placement. This includes that students must complete the UC Student Placement/Internship Agreement. This must be completed on the form on the Canvas site.

See Placement Description and Essential Information above for further details.

Students who have not met pre-placement requirements by the specified due date will not be allocated a placement. This will result in a fail grade for the unit.

Industry mandatory pre-placement requirements
Some practice education placement industry partners require students to complete further mandatory pre-placement requirements such as learning packages, prior to the commencing placement. See Placement Description and Essential Information above for further details.

Failure to complete mandatory industry partner pre-placement requirements by the due date will result in the practice placement being cancelled. This will result in a fail grade for the unit.

• Practice 6, 2023, Internship, UC - Canberra, Bruce (220895)