Public Health
What you need to do
Before preparing for a public health professional experience placement, please seek advice from the Subject Coordinator for TM5571 Public Health Placement to discuss your options and the subject requirements:
For Placement Enquiries please contact Subject Coordinator Dr. Mary O’Loughlin,
For all Pre-placement requirement please contact Professional Experience Placement Unit
Website College of Public Health, Medical and Veterinary Sciences
COVID 19 UPDATE FOR STUDENTS ATTENDING PLACEMENT IN ALL HEALTHCARE FACILITIES IN QUEENSLAND:
As of 25 September 2023, Queensland Health no longer mandate COVID-19 vaccination for Students attending placements in Queensland Health facilities. Students must continue to follow the directions on the Queensland Health website Preparing for your Clinical placement.
Information on entering or returning to placement in a high-risk workplace setting is available on the QH webpage Visiting high-risk settings.
It is important to note that some health facilities that host JCU students for placement still require COVID-19 vaccination as a condition of entry for student placement. Students will be advised of this requirement at the time of their placement allocation.
Mater Health Facilities Queensland
If you are going on placement to a Mater Health Facility in Queensland please read the document below regarding COVID requirements:
Postgraduate Students
Arranging your placement
This guide will assist you to organise your professional experience placement. However, you may be required to fulfil additional requirements depending on where your placement will occur (e.g. a national Working with Children Check, current resuscitation certification, current vaccinations). Please confirm with a representative from the placement facility what their specific requirements are, and ensure you meet these requirements prior to beginning your placement.
Prior to placement, you must ensure you have:
- Formally enrolled in the subject TM5571 Public Health Placement
- Developed a learning contract to be endorsed by the subject coordinator and placement supervisor
- Completed and submitted the form Approval to undertake public health placement
- Completed a health and safety plan via RiskWare
Forms and supporting documents including the TM5571 Subject Outline will be provided to you by the subject coordinator.
The work you will be undertaking during your placement must be voluntary. It is not with your employer.
The placement must be public health related; it cannot be clinical practice.
You should not be undertaking any medical procedures as part of your placement.
Your placement must consist of 152 hours of voluntary work, which equates to four weeks of work at 38 hours per week.
These hours can be undertaken as a block or spread out over the semester, e.g. 15 hours a week for 10 weeks.
As a Public Health placement student, you are responsible for covering all costs associated with your placement, e.g. accommodation, travel expenses.
As a a Public Health placement student, it is your responsibility to ensure all pre-placement requirements (PPRs) are met. Please seek the advice of your placement coordinator or the Professional Experience Placement Unit to confirm the pre-placement information and resources related to other States, services and facilities.
The below documents contains vital information for all healthcare students about the responsibilities of both students and the University concerning professional experience placement.
Professional Experience Placement Procedures
Procedure for Infectious Disease
JCU Professional Experience Placement Requirements Procedure
JCU Review of a Student's Suitability to continue a Course involving Placement
JCU WHS - PRO-023 Infection Control Procedure
You are required to complete and submit the following Pre-Placement Requirements (PPRs):
- JCU PEP Student Declaration
- Please complete and sign the JCU Student PEP Declaration to confirm that you have read and understood the above listed Placement Procedures.
- JCU PEP Confidentiality Acknowledgement
- It is recommended that students download Adobe Acrobat Reader to be able to fill/sign forms. This is a free program. Click here to download Adobe Acrobat Reader.
- In signing the Acknowledgement, you – the student – acknowledge that you have been instructed in the concept of patient, client and business confidentiality, and will respect clients’ confidentiality at all times, including during tutorials, lectures and discussions, both professional and private.
Please submit the completed JCU Student PEP Declaration and JCU Confidentiality Acknowledgement form to the Professional Experience Placement Unit
Queensland Health has recently updated the legal instruments and subsidiary documents governing pre-entry clinical placements in Queensland Health facilities. All students must complete orientation before commencing a placement within a Queensland Health facility. You will not be able to commence your placement until your orientation is completed.
Read and complete QH Student Deed Poll
Page 1 - tips for completion
- Section “Student” – Enter your name.
- Section” HHS” – Enter the Hospital and Health Service (HHS) of your confirmed placement location. View the map of Queensland Health Hospital and Health Services to identify your placement location and its corresponding HHS.
- Education Provider : James Cook University - ABN 46 253 211 955
Page 8 - Tips for completion
- Your signature must be witnessed. The Witness could be anyone over the age of 18.
- All signatures and dates must be entered as required. All sections must be completed.
- The signature date must be current and relevant to the period of the placement.
Please download, complete, sign, and email QH Student Deed Form (all 8 Pages) to the Professional Experience Placement Unit and retain a copy with your Student Orientation Checklist, for your placement professional portfolio/resources for placement.
2. Student Orientation Checklist
Example of a correctly completed Student Orientation Checklist
Please tick every box on pages 1 and 2 (even if the document does not apply to you) to acknowledge that you have read and understood all of the potential Queensland Health placement requirements.
Tips for completion
Page 1
Legal Check section
- Enter the Date of Check or Date of Completion and Expiry (where applicable) for the pre-placement requirement, mandatory to your placement (Blue card, General Criminal History Check)
Vaccinations
- Enter the date of vaccination, if applicable, as per your JCU Health and Immunisation form records
- Enter into the comments section: If you have serology results for your evidence of immunity, enter 'Immunity confirmed by serology' and include the date of your serology.
- Mask Fit Testing – Enter the date of testing as per your Mask Fit Test compliance form and in the comments, include the brand, model, and size.
- Include your yearly influenza vaccine or your COVID vaccines if applicable.
Page 2
Students are required to complete relevant mandatory training listed in the Mandatory Training HR G6 Policy for Department of Health employees as part of the Department of Health - Mandatory training requirements standard through iLearn before commencement as detailed in the following table:
iLearn Module | Frequency |
Annually (30-minute duration) | |
Annually (20 minutes duration) | |
Prevention and Management of Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSD) | once only (20 minutes duration) |
once only (20 minutes duration) | |
every 2 years (30 minutes duration) | |
once only (5 minutes duration) |
Additional mandatory training to be completed on commencement at the facility includes:
- General Evacuation Instructions
- Infection Prevention and Control.
- The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultural Practice Program is offered face-to-face and is not currently available in iLearn.
Please note, that there may be additional local requisites or essential mandatory training to undertake as directed by the placement supervisor/line manager.
For students enrolled in Australian education facilities preparing for clinical placement the link is as follows, Preparing for your clinical placement | Queensland Health.
On completion tick the All mandatory orientation as per Queensland Health Human Resources Policy Mandatory Training G6 (QH-POL-183) box on the QH Orientation Check List.
Print the applicable certificates and retain a copy for your placement professional portfolio as you may need to present them to your placement supervisor.
Page 3
Certification / Declaration
- Enter all required information and date.
- Please download, complete, sign, and email the QH Orientation Checklist (Pages 1-3).
- Then email your Student Orientation Checklist and your module training certificates to healthplacements@jcu.edu.au for recording.
It is your responsibility to keep all the requirements up-to-date and to adhere to Queensland Health placement requirements for your safety and the safety of others during your professional experience placement.
3. Record of Allied Health Student Training
Allied Health Students must complete Steps 1 and 2 according to the instructions on the website Clinical placement information for allied health students. When completed you then fill in the Record of Allied Health Student Training as evidence of completion.
Please send the completed Record of Allied Health Student Training form to healthplacements@jcu.edu.au and retain a copy for your placement portfolio.
There are three pieces of assessment for TM5571 against which you will be graded as competent or not competent:
- Learning Contract (30%)
- Risk management plan via Riskware (10%)
- A portfolio that includes analytical reasoning and a reflective journal or your learning (60%)
The hurdle requirements for TM5571 involve two letters from your supervisor:
- The first letter verifies acceptance of your placement and includes the Approval to undertake public health placement form
Students undertaking overseas Professional Experience Placements must obtain appropriate approval before departure. Depending on your course of study, your Placement Coordinator may request that you complete the Approval for Overseas Professional Experience Placement form. Please ensure that you have received confirmation from your Placement Coordinator that your Professional Experience Placement has been approved.
Going Rural North Queensland
Going Rural North offers nursing, midwifery, allied health, and dentistry students a rural placement bursary to assist with travel and accommodation expenses. If you are seeking support for rural or remote placements in North Queensland and meet the eligibility criteria, please Apply Now
Work Integrated Learning (WIL)/Placement Scholarship
Students enrolled in a confirmed placement of a minimum of 1 week or 36 hours in length, arranged within the 2024 academic year will be eligible for a base amount of $500; plus an additional $250 per week, when required to relocate from semester residential address to undertake the placement. The maximum amount of scholarship per placement will be $3,000.
Application Close RND 1 closes 2 April 2024
Application Close RND 1 closes 29 April 2024 at 5pm
Further information about the program and the application form is available at Work Integrated Learning (WIL)/Placement Scholarship
ACEN 2024 Student Scholarships
Applications Close: 3 May 2023
Scholarships are open to students who:
- Are from institutions with ACEN Full Institutional Membership.
- Are based in an RA1-RA2 location and will undertake a WIL placement in an RA3-RA5 location (With the requirement that you are travelling more than 60 km) OR are based in an RA3-RA5 location and will undertake a WIL placement in an RA1-RA2 location (With the requirement that you are travelling more than 60 km).
- Students can be domestic or international.
- Genuine relocation is required.
- 3 weeks duration minimum and occur between 1 July 2024 – 30 June 2025
- Placement must be full-time.
Download the ACEN Student Scholarships promotional flyer here.
Introductory Module: Student Workplace Health and Safety, and Conduct Induction
In preparation for your placement, you must have an understanding of Work, Health and Safety (WHS), to develop your knowledge and skills, James Cook University requires all Students to complete the mandatory WHS introductory model "Student Workplace Health and Safety, and Conduct Induction".
To access this module via LearnJCU, select Organisations, and under the heading Essential, select Student Workplace Health and Safety, and Conduct Induction. The module has 8 parts for you to complete and a Declaration of Completion to be acknowledged. These modules will take approximately 15 minutes to complete.
The Professional Experience Placement Team will be notified when you have completed the training. Your InPlace profile will be updated to reflect your compliance.
This is a mandatory preplacement requirement and you cannot commence placement until this module has been completed.