Originally my 3rd placement was meant to be in Perth, however it got cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances (supervisors going on holidays). I was informed of this midway through my 2nd placement. It was a bit annoying not knowing where i was going next but i could understand that there is nothing the uni can do when placements are cancelled. At the end of my 2nd placement i was told that my 3rd placement would be in Mandurah and Rockingham.
I wasnt looking forward to all the travel but as the placement was in the physio field i had wanted i didnt mind too much. I was also told i had an induction for the placement but i wasnt informed at what time.
It was the week off the next week and i went to Kalbarri on a holiday that had been planned for 3 months. Unfortunately a lot of the holiday was spent emailing a few different people as i was trying to find out when my induction was and every time i emailed one person they told me i needed to email someone else. Eventually i found out that my induction was to start at 9am on the friday and that it was compulsory. This was a problem for me as i had arranged to drive back on the friday and therefore i wouldnt be back until late friday arvo. I was also going to be travelling with someone so unfortunately it wasnt just me that the sudden change of plans was going to affect.
I found out a few numbers of people i could call to let them know my situation as i thought once i explained myself to someone at the facility they would understand and i wouldnt have to cut short my holiday. I also had a feeling that the orientation would be fairly irrelevant to me so it seemed a shame to have to come back early for it. I spoke to a few people at the facility and after failing to politely reason with them i accepted the decision and drove back thursday. Unfortunately the orientation was a waste of time and i was really annoyed that my holiday had been shortened because of it.
I got over it fairly quickly and I have really enjoyed my placement so far. The only reason i am talking about it is because the issue was raised with me by my supervisor at my mid placement assessment. My feedback was generally really positive but my supervisor said she had to mention the fact that me being reluctant to drive back early for orientation gave a bad first impression and showed a poor attitude. She said it wouldnt be written on my feedback form because what she had seen of me had been good, but she felt she had to mention the fact that trying to get out of orientation was a bad start. I explained the whole situation to her and although she could see my side of it, she still stood by what she had said.
I felt that i had been unfairly treated because even though i didnt think i had done much wrong, i had given a bad first impression. I understand that uni is my first priority and it annoyed me that because of this situation it was made to look like i wasnt entirely committed to uni. I didnt think it was fair to be told that we had a week off and then for that to be interfered with by an unnecessary orientation.
I was wondering if anyone had any ideas of how i could have handled this situation better? Was i in the wrong, or was it more a case of unfortunate circumstances?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Kev!
I had to comment on this as I had a very similar experience.
It just so happened that on the Saturday following my first week of placement 1, I had my cousin's wedding. There would have been no problems with this, other than the fact that I was part of the bridal party, and my cousin had made appointments on the Friday before the wedding, meaning the entire Friday was a right-off. This meant that I could not attend prac on the first Friday of my first placement.
As I had a pretty delayed start to the year, and hadn't been on placement before - I contacted the faciltiy the week before I was due to start and spoke directly with my supervisor. I thought that it would be best to let her know sooner rather than later, as I did not want the day off - I simply couldn't go. I thought that by being upfront and honest over the phone would be a better option than just calling in sick, or telling her on my first week.
I also tried to politely talk through my situation over the phone, and recieved very cold responses in return, which indicated to me that my supervisor wasn't too impressed, and almost made me feel like I wasn't telling the truth - which was annoying.
What was different in my situation is I had to take the day off, however, I made up for it all in the first week.
I as you did, just got over it, and continued with the placement.
However, like you, my supervisor brought it up at my mid-placement assessment under professional behaviour. She told me that it would have been more appropriate for me to have asked for a 'leave of absence' or negotiate a day that I could take off - rather than just stating that I couldn't work on the first Friday.
I just took the critism, but was really annoyed by it,as there was nothing I could have done. I was upset that the situation impacted on her first impression of me, and of my attitude to Physio. It was my cousin's wedding, and I had to be a part of all the preparation on the Friday. What the ironic thing was, was that my supervisor was also a bridesmaid on the same Saturday, and also took the Friday off!
So, in response to your post, no I don't think you were in the wrong. I think the conflict arises when we as student's dictate to our supervisors that we cannot attend something that is 'a requirement'. If you or i were supervisor's (that's a funny thought! jj), I wouldn't be bothered by it at all, as there are certain circumstances as a student that we cannot avoid - we all have lives outside of Physio as well. This should not be linked to our commitment to the course, or our attitudes to clinics.
If I were you, I would have tried to contact Amanda, and she may have been able to help you out. She advised me to do this in the future, if a similar situation ever arose again. Supervisor's will respond better when it comes from the School, rather than from us directly - but not all supervisor's are like this!!
Maybe even approach Amanda about it, if you feel it may impact on your final assessment, or if it has impacted on your performance over the weeks in general - I had to.
Sorry about the length of this response, I can sympathise with you - and hope my input has helped in some way.
Enjoy the rest of your placement,
Ange.
Post a Comment