My First Placement Experience

As a student starting my very first placement I felt nervous, anxious and uneasy about the whole experience.

I arrived on my first day and I knew nobody, it would have been great to see a familiar face. I met my educator/mentor who seemed very nice, although I was very aware that they would be marking me over the coming weeks. This was a tricky situation to figure out.

While working in the team my confidence grew and with it my ability to communicate with the multi disciplinary team. I quickly found therapy assistants became my go to people, maybe because I felt I could relate to them more although they were a lot more experienced than me!

During the placement I found it difficult to know what I wanted to achieve, as I didn't know what opportunities were available!? - who knew I would see surgery!

When it comes to the marking criteria always make sure you have some goals in mind, you will be asked and it is good to be able to contribute towards these and guide your own learning.

I would advise you to keep a diary on placement as you soon forget what you have seen and how far you have come, when you look back you will be proud of yourself. If you feel able to then share this with your educator as it shows them more about you and what you have been doing.

I found showing the learning I was doing in my own time difficult (I did lots! - but did not show this enough to get full credit for it) so think of ways such as a diary that you can show to them. - there is also another blog post on this topic!

I hope you enjoy your future placements as much as I have, but the main thing is to grow as a person and a clinician.