How It Works in the Real World: Helping Students Navigate Clinical Placements

Abstract

Purpose This article discusses current issues found in external clinical placements and their possible causes, and this offers practical solutions for assisting students to benefit from their experiences. In order to obtain a Certificate of Clinical Competence from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, students must obtain a required number of patient contact hours. Many of these experiences are supervised by a mentor outside of the university setting. This provides opportunity for the student to be exposed to various clinical philosophies. It also opens the possibility that the student will be exposed to practices that are not based in sound theory or evidence. Conclusion Preparing students to assess and manage clinical placements is vital to their success. Several suggestions for encouraging and facilitating productive clinical conversations between mentor and mentee are proposed.