Part A: Course Overview

Course Title: External Practicum 2

Credit Points: 12.00

Terms

Course Code

Campus

Career

School

Learning Mode

Teaching Period(s)

BESC1276

Bundoora Campus

Postgraduate

150H Health Sciences

Face-to-Face

 Sem 1 2006,
Sem 2 2006,
Sem 2 2007,
Sem 2 2008,
Sem 2 2009,
Sem 2 2010,
Sem 1 2011,
Sem 2 2011,
Sem 1 2012,
Sem 2 2012,
Sem 2 2013,
Sem 1 2014,
Sem 2 2014,
Sem 2 2015

BESC1276

Bundoora Campus

Postgraduate

173H School of Health and Biomed

Face-to-Face

 Sem 2 2018,
Sem 2 2019,
Sem 2 2020,
Sem 2 2021,
Sem 2 2022,
Sem 2 2024

BESC1326

Bundoora Campus

Research

150H Health Sciences

Face-to-Face

 Sem 2 2007,
Sem 2 2008,
Sem 2 2009,
Sem 2 2011,
Sem 2 2012

Course Coordinator: Trish Melzer

Course Coordinator Phone: +61 3 9925

Course Coordinator Email: trish.melzer2@rmit.edu.au

Course Coordinator Location: 202.04.35


Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities

 

Enforced Pre-Requisite Courses 

Successful completion of

Note: it is a condition of enrolment at RMIT that you accept responsibility for ensuring that you have completed the prerequisite/s and agree to concurrently enrol in co-requisite courses before enrolling in a course. 

For your information go to RMIT Course Requisites webpage.

Required Prior Study

You should have satisfactorily completed following course/s before you commence this course.

Alternatively, you may be able to demonstrate the required skills and knowledge before you start this course.

Contact your course coordinator if you think you may be eligible for recognition of prior learning.


Course Description

External Psychology Practicum 2 is undertaken in Semester 2 of the second year of the Master of Psychology program. External Psychology Practicum 2 is designed to enable you to consolidate and expand your clinical psychology skills and therapeutic techniques with clients in an external setting. 

Work Integrated Learning

Students enrolled in this course will be required to be WIL passport ready to undertake the course. A number of requirements must be met by students to ensure eligibility for course. Further details on each of these are available in Part B of the Course Guide and on MyRMIT and include:

  • National Police Check
  • Working with Children Check
There is no flexibility with these requirements. It is your responsibility to ensure these requirements are completed. Any student who has not provided this information in full by the specified date will not be able to participate in the course and will receive a fail grade. A fail grade for the course will result in a delay in your program progression.   Students need to be able to meet the inherent requirements of the program. At any time prior to or during the course, if there are concerns raised related to your fitness to practice, the course coordinator or program manager can request that you gain full medical clearance to continue the course.  

 


Objectives/Learning Outcomes/Capability Development

This course contributes to the following Program Learning Outcomes for MC002 Master of Clinical Psychology:  

  • PLO 2: Develop a comprehensive and critical understanding of the legislative frameworks and ethical codes and guidelines that guide professional psychological practice at a personal and professional level.
  • PLO 3: Design, analyse, synthesise and communicate information from a wide variety of psychological assessments and techniques appropriate to the developmental stage, cognitive level and cultural background of the client, and appropriate to the purpose of the assessment.
  • PLO 4: Demonstrate the ability to design, apply, and evaluate appropriate evidence based empirically validated interventions individualised to the client’s diagnosis, case formulation, and personal or organisational characteristics.
  • PLO 5: Demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of empirical investigation or inquiry as a scientist-practitioner, predicated on the principles of clinical psychological practice, with a variety of psychological phenomena or problems.
  • PLO 6: Demonstrate the ability to undertake effective communication across a range of individual and organisational contexts to engage clients and to convey, appraise, and interpret information relevant to professional practice and the client population.


Upon successful completion of this course you should be able to: 

  1. Demonstrate an understanding of, and adherence to, the clinical and professional procedures of an external clinical agency/institution.
  2. Work collegiately and effectively within the multidisciplinary team of an external clinical agency/institution.
  3. Systematically evaluate all psychological interventions using an N=1 methodology.
  4. Perform to a professional standard across the range of clinical competencies, as specified in a Placement Agency performance contract.
  5. Reflect on your professional practice with a view to continuous quality improvement.


Overview of Learning Activities

You will be actively engaged in a range of learning activities such as lectorials, tutorials, practicals, laboratories, seminars, project work, class discussion, individual and group activities. Delivery may be face to face, online or a mix of both. 

Learning activities include on-placement individual and group supervision meetings to provide a solid theoretical and practice-driven basis to help achieve professional practice proficiency according to the APAC competencies. The skill consolidation and development activities during external placement will support entry into professional psychological practice. During this course you will be required to undertake a period of 5 – 6 months in an external psychology setting, as arranged by the placement coordinator. You will be expected to read widely in areas related to clinical practice placement as required by the agency supervisor. 

You are encouraged to be proactive and self-directed in your learning, asking questions of your lecturer and/or peers and seeking out information as required, especially from the numerous sources available through the RMIT library, and through links and material specific to this course that is available through myRMIT Studies Course. 


Overview of Learning Resources

 

RMIT will provide you with resources and tools for learning in this course through myRMIT Studies Course. 

There are services available to support your learning through the University Library. The Library provides guides on academic referencing and subject specialist help as well as a range of study support services. For further information, please visit the Library page on the RMIT University website and the myRMIT student portal.


Overview of Assessment

All assessments are required to be completed for a pass mark in this course. This WIL course awards a pass or fail mark.

This course contains hurdle requirements. All hurdle requirements for this course are indicated clearly in the assessment regime that follows, against the relevant assessment task(s) and all have been approved by the College Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Learning & Teaching).

Assessment Tasks

Assessment Task 1: Satisfactory Completion of the mid placement review assessed at mid placement by the external and internal placement supervisors/coordinator, using the structured rating scale specified in the External Placement Manual. (Hurdle)
Satisfactory Pass (PX) / Unsatisfactory Fail (NN)
This assessment task supports CLOs 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5

Assessment Task 2: Satisfactory completion of the end of  placement review assessed at end of placement by the external and internal placement supervisors/coordinator  on the structured rating scale specified in the External Placement Manual. (Hurdle)
Satisfactory Pass (PX) / Unsatisfactory Fail (NN)
This assessment task supports CLOs 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5

If you have a long-term medical condition and/or disability it may be possible to negotiate to vary aspects of the learning or assessment methods. You can contact the program coordinator or Equitable Learning Services if you would like to find out more.