Student scholarship reflections for 2017
Each year ACEN awards eight $1500 scholarships to provide financial support for students undertaking a WIL placement in a regional or remote area of Australia as part of their 2017/2018 university studies. Upon completion of the placement recipients are required to provide a reflection of the WIL experience which should
- Identify the personal growth and skill development as a result of the WIL placement
- How the ACEN Scholarship supported the recipient’s career aspirations
- Evidence of the ability to think critically and question biases and assumptions
Here are the reflections from 2017
Speech pathology placement experience at Naturaliste Community Health
‘My work integrated learning placement also taught me about how theory doesn’t always work perfectly, and your session or treatment will not always go as planned …’
Secondary teaching six hours from Darwin
‘When you search for the town, Google Maps struggles to find it.’
Nutrition and Dietetics in Cape York
‘Prior to this placement I could not have imagined independently completing nutrition assessments of 32 children in a single day of annual school health checks!‘
Dentistry placement experience in the Northern Territory
‘I had to improve my non-verbal communication skills as well as learn non-jargon terms for oral disease for people with little or no health literacy.’
Dietetics placement in Orange, NSW
‘An eye-opening experience for me on placement was interacting with individuals that were not that receptive to dietetics care. At university, we were never really told about how to deal with patients who do not want to see you or do not want to talk to you.’
Medical Student Placement in East Gippsland
‘Confidentiality in this region is critical as … many patients … have personal, professional or familial connections with their GP and other patients.’
Teaching placement in remote NT
‘What I did learn, however, was how to get the class’s attention and establish control without needing to rely on my volume.’