Placements
More detailed information on placements is available from LMS.
La Trobe Health Sciences students enrolled in professional programs undertake clinical education in the form of clinical placements, fieldwork, and other clinical and practical experience. These placements are the main avenues by which students integrate theory with practice, further develop skills through supportive, professional environments, and gain essential working knowledge of the stages of human development and behaviour norms and the health, social and cultural factors which influence these.
Students involved in professional placements will be required to behave and present (including dress) in a professional manner at all times. Each professional group has a Code of Ethics, which will be provided to all students prior to undertaking fieldwork. Students are expected to have read the Code of Ethics prior to commencing fieldwork. Students will be required to respect and respond to client needs, ensure the confidentiality of client material and hold the client's welfare as paramount. It is also expected that students will interact with relevant others in a courteous and professional manner.
Professional placements provide students with a working knowledge of illness and disability and the support services and options available in different communities, and greater awareness of interdisciplinary working relationships and respective roles and functions. Professional placements will require students to obtain a police clearance and a Working With Children check.
Please note that more specific information on clinical or professional placement education requirements pertaining to your course will be provided by your course co-ordinators.
Professional Placement Travelling Grant
Background of Grant
The Faculty of Health Sciences has allocated limited funding to support a competitive grant program designed to help students who have undertaken a professional placement in a location 100 kilometres or more from their usual place of residence. The program is open to all undergraduate and postgraduate students enrolled in a course in the Faculty of Health Sciences.
Applicants should note that there is no guarantee of receiving a grant and that the availability of grants are subject to annual funding.
Amount
Each grant is valued at $20 per day of placement (a maximum of $100 per week).
Number of Grants Awarded
There will be two application rounds for grants each academic year. There will be no set number of grants awarded in any given round, nor will the Faculty allocate a minimum or maximum total amount for grants in any given round.
Eligibility
- The grant is available only to those students who have undertaken a professional placement in a location 100 kilometres or more from their usual or current semester place of residence. [Students that have a round trip of 100km are not considered eligible.]
- Applicants must be currently enrolled in a Faculty of Health Sciences course.
- Applicants must demonstrate they were significantly financially disadvantaged when undertaking their professional placement. Financial need will be assessed by the selection committee using the information provided by applicants in Section 4 of their application.
- Applicants who relocated to any residence of their parents, any other relative, a friend or de facto partner, that is less than 100 kilometres from the location of their professional placement, remain ineligible, even if they were required to pay for such accommodation.
- The grant is only available to those undertaking a professional placement of more than one week duration (five working days or 32 hours per four-day week).
- Applicants may be in receipt of a scholarship awarded by La Trobe University, or another organisation, with the exception of any other scholarship/grant where the purpose of the scholarship/grant is to support a student undertaking a professional placement. This is especially relevant for Nursing students who may already be in receipt of a DHS Rural Scholarship.
- Students are permitted to receive one grant only, per academic year, and no more than three grants per course of enrolment.
Selection Process
The Manager, Academic Services, in the Faculty of Health Sciences will be responsible for the allocation of grants.
Applicants will be scored and ranked according to financial need, as demonstrated by the applicant in Section 4 of the application. Grants will then be allocated in rank order and the total number of grants provided will depend on the total amount of funding the Faculty has made available for the program for each round.
The selection committee will confirm with the relevant professional placement coordinator that the placement the applicant is seeking a grant for, was undertaken as detailed in their application.
Ongoing Eligibility
Grant recipients must have met the eligibility criteria throughout the duration of their professional placement.
Closing Dates for Applications
For placements where the completion date is between 1 January and 30 June 2013:
applications close by 5pm Friday 5 July 2013.
For placements where the completion date is between 1 July and 31 December 2013:
applications close by 5pm Friday 3 January 2014.
Where to submit your application
Please see 'Section 6' in the application form for details on how and where to submit your application. Note: Electronic submission via email or via fax is not available for this application.
Supporting Documents
Please ensure that all the required documents to support your application are attached when you submit your application.
Documents will not be returned to you so if you would prefer not to submit the original, please provide a copy. Please note that copied supporting documents do not have to be certified but your Statutory Declaration must be an original.
Wherever you see the symbol ??? on the application form, you must provide documentation to support the information supplied in that particular section.
Statutory Declaration
All applicants must sign the Statutory Declaration at Section 5 of this application, and organise for it to be signed by someone authorised to witness declarations (see Section 5 of Application for more details).
Please Note: your application will not be considered if the Declaration is missing, incomplete or unsigned.
False or Misleading Information
La Trobe University reserves the right to withdraw an offer of any monies and to re-assess an application if the University believes the recipient has provided false or misleading information.
Late Applications
Applications received after the closing date may be accepted only if accompanied by a signed formal request outlining exceptional circumstances that have resulted in a late application. The selection committee will later determine whether or not the application will be considered, based on the explanation provided.
Acknowledgement of Applications
Applicants will receive an email acknowledgement, from the Faculty Office, within one week of receipt of application. The email will be to the applicants' official La Trobe University student email accounts, as per University policy. Please do not supply any other email address. (see Policies website for full details on the University's student email policy)
Notification of Outcome of Applications
The Faculty will endeavour to notify applicants of the outcome of their application within four weeks of the closing date.
Important
Please note that your application will not be accepted if:
- You do not supply your La Trobe University student email address
- You do not complete the Statutory Declaration
- You have not included all supporting documentation
