Calvary Health Care is providing students opportunities to gain experience and skills with patients and clients in both a home and hospital setting through a shared placement program with Calvary Home Care and Calvary Mater Newcastle.

“It was an opportunity to do something different and learn new skills. There are so many areas to specialise in as an occupational therapist and I want to experience as many as possible before I graduate,” Ms Belle said.

For the first five weeks, Ms Belle was assisted by Kyla Trehy, Calvary Home Care Occupational Therapist, as the pair visited clients in their homes and ran group classes.

“The placement is a massive learning curve for the students, because they’re doing stuff they’ve never done before,” Ms Trehy said.

“I always had fantastic placements when I was a student, and I want to be able to provide that to others. My approach with Melissa has been to be very open with communication, make sure she knows that it is okay to make mistakes and encourage her to ask questions.

“This placement is about empowering Melissa and helping her develop the skills she needs because she will be out in the field next year.”

All University of Newcastle Occupational Therapy students are required to complete one 10-week placement block during their final year. At the five-week mark of her placement with Calvary, Ms Belle transitioned to Calvary Mater Newcastle’s Palliative Care Unit.

Calvary Mater Newcastle General Manager, Roslyn Everingham, said the hospital is proud to support the University of Newcastle’s undergraduate program.

“Calvary Mater Newcastle is an acute teaching hospital committed to the ongoing education of students across a range of health professions including occupational therapy,” Ms Everingham said.

“We regularly welcome students on placement as part of their clinical training and it was great to be able to work with our colleagues at Calvary Home Care in providing this opportunity.”

Ms Belle is weeks away from completing her final year of studies. Her advice to other occupational therapy students is to gain as much experience as possible in different areas.