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:

COVID Update Student Placements

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:

  1. Formally enrolled in the subject TM5571 Public Health Placement
  2. Developed a learning contract to be endorsed by the subject coordinator and placement supervisor
  3. Completed and submitted the form Approval to undertake public health placement
  4. 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 JCU professional health 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 (PDF, 449 KB)

Procedure for Infectious Disease (PDF, 1518 KB)

JCU Social Media Policy

JCU Student Conduct Policy

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 specific legal instruments and subsidiary documents governing pre-entry placements in Queensland Health facilities. All students must complete orientation before commencing a placement within a Queensland Health facility. You cannot commence your placement until your orientation is completed.

1. Student Deed Poll  

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.
  • Section “Education provider” – Enter “James Cook University” and the University's ABN 46 253 211 955.

Page 8 - Tips for completion

  • Your signature must be witnessed. The Witness could be anyone over the age of eighteen (18)
  • All signatures and dates must be entered as required. All sections must be completed.

Please download, complete, sign, and email QH Student Deed Form (all 8 Pages) to the Professional Experience Placement Unit and retain a copy for your placement professional portfolio.

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.
  • Enter in 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.
  • COVID-19 - enter the date and the name of the vaccine in the “Comments" section.

Page 2

iLearn Module

Frequency

First-Response Evacuation Instructions (FREI)

Annually (30-minute duration)

Code of Conduct

Annually (20 minutes duration)

Prevention and Management of Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSD)

once only (20 minutes duration)

Health, Safety, and Wellbeing Induction

once only  (20 minutes duration)

Public Interest Disclosure (PID)

every 2 years  (30 minutes duration)

Occupational Violence Orientation (awareness only)

once only  (5 minutes duration)

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:

Additional mandatory training to be completed on commencement at the facility includes:

  • General Evacuation Instructions
  • Infection Prevention and Control.
  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultural Practice Program is offered face-to-face and is not currently available in iLearn.

Please note, there may be additional local additional requisites or essential training mandatory training to undertake as directed by the placement supervisor/line manager.

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 and send it to healthplacements@jcu.edu.au for recording.

Print the applicable certificate and retain a copy for your placement professional portfolio.

It is your responsibility to keep these checks up-to-date and to adhere to Queensland Health placement requirements for your safety and the safety of others during your professional experience placement.

Page 3

Certification / Declaration

  • Enter all required information and the date
  • Please download, complete, sign, and email the QH Orientation checklist (Pages 1-3) to the Professional Experience Placement Unit and retain a copy for your placement professional portfolio

There are three pieces of assessment for TM5571 against which you will be graded as competent or not competent:

  1. Learning Contract (30%)
  2. Risk management plan via Riskware (10%)
  3. 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:

  1. 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.


Work Integrated Learning (WIL)/Placement Scholarship

Applications Close 27 October 2023

Students enrolled in a confirmed placement of a minimum of 1 week or 36 hours in length, arranged within the 2023 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.

Further information about the program and the application guide is available at : https://www.jcu.edu.au/scholarships/search/work-integrated-learning-wil-scholarship