WORK PLACEMENT REQUIREMENTS

As part of your course you will need to undertake volunteer work experience in order to develop your practical skills, this work experience is referred to as ‘Work Placement’. If you are employed in a clinic, you can use this instead of placement, but you must still meet placement requirements before commencing the assessments.

SUITABLE WORKPLACES

For Placement 1, you can attend a non veterinary workplace if you are unable to secure a veterinary placement. The workplace must see dogs and cats and be able to house them there in enclosures. Suitable workplaces include:

• Boarding facilities
• Animal shelter
• Grooming Parlour

Placement 2 must occur in a veterinary clinic due to the nature of the assessments and the units you are enrolled in.

PLACEMENT STRUCTURE

Placements are very flexible in order to allow you to work the hours around other commitments, so you can divide it up any way you like to suit you and the clinic, as long as the minimum hours are met. We prefer students to complete a 2-week block of work for each placement (10 x full days of 7.5 to 8 hours) to maximise learning potential. Your study plan will highlight when this best occurs in your course, but this is flexible.

However, we're keen to fit in with your life, and the roster structure of the clinic you will be working at. You can choose to split placement days up (e.g. 1 day a week for 10 consecutive weeks or 1-week blocks) as long as for each placement you complete and log between 75 and 80 hours.

LINKED SUBJECTS

You must complete Safe Animal Handling Techniques and WHS in the Vet Clinic before you can begin your first placement. This is to ensure you have the right knowledge to keep safe whilst on placement.

We do recommend that you ensure the subjects appearing before placement on your study plan are complete before you tackle the placement assessments. Otherwise you will be completing assessments before you have done the learning - which will increase the likelihood of a resubmission.

Not all your subjects require placement for completion of the units.

ARRANGING PLACEMENT

Please read the Work Placement Handbook fully to understand the requirements of setting up your work placement.

Your online area 'Work Placement Arrangement' contains all the necessary information and paperwork for your enrolment including all the steps you must complete prior.

You must:

• Have the clinic approved as a Registered Training Clinic
• Have at least ONE approved Clinical Mentor registered
• Received confirmation of insurance from your RTO
• Completed and passed Small Animal Handling Techniques
• Completed and passed Work Health & Safety
• Received confirmation from us you are good to go.

You will be able to access your placement assessment instructions prior to having placement arranged, but you will not be able to upload any until placement is approved.