The aim of practice education is to facilitate the development of clinical skills in the management of clients, of all ages in health & social care environments. Practice education provides learning opportunities that permit the student to observe and experience work as developing practitioners. The work undertaken in the different practice education settings allows students to learn directly from contact with experienced practising therapists and the real world of clients. Learning is through a process of reflection and inquiry that enables the development of clinical skills and reasoning skills. In accordance with Professional accreditation, there should be recognition of the increasingly diverse health and social care practice settings in which physiotherapists work, and practice based learning needs to be organised in a way that facilitates core skill transferability. Experience should be gained along patient pathways and across boundaries to reflect patient journeys. This module is a seven week onsite placement for the BSc. Students must satisfactorily demonstrate clinical competence prior to undertaking this module.

First of Physiotherapy Practice Education Placements.

On successful completion of this module, students will be able to... Demonstrate an understanding of practice knowledge within a therapeutic setting. Consider professional practice and the intervention process as a medium for facilitating change with a range of individual clients and groups. Combine information relevant to a specific client to inform the intervention process.

On successful completion of this module, students will be able to... Display clinical reasoning ability related to the clients goals and beliefs and the practice setting, using an evidence-based approach to practice. Show personal communication skills, professional interactions and self- responsibility within the practice setting

On successful completion of this module, students will be able to... Display safe and effective physiotherapy assessment skills with guidance. Display safe and effective physiotherapy treatment skills with guidance.

This module is a practical placement where the student is supervised in a clinical environment by an experienced therapist, with additional educational support and input from University of Limerick staff. Student learning is experiential and there is a mixture of patient contact, case studies discussion and tutorials. Student learning is structured using a learning contract. Students are expected to acquire practice knowledge relevant to the practice setting; demonstrate basic clinical reasoning skills and to show an understanding of the physiotherapy process with the specific client group. Also, the student will be required to demonstrate an awareness of the importance of effective communication and personal management skills and to develop these core skills within his/her practice.