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Course Outline

HLT106 Allied Health Assistant Clinical Placement

Course Coordinator:Jo Pflugfelder (jpflugfelder@usc.edu.au) School:School of Health - Occupational Therapy

2026Session 4

UniSC Sunshine Coast

UniSC Moreton Bay

UniSC Caboolture

UniSC Fraser Coast

UniSC Gympie

 Blended learning Most of your course is on campus but you may be able to do some components of this course online.

Please go to unisc.edu.au for up to date information on the
teaching sessions and campuses where this course is usually offered.

What is this course about?

Description

In this course you will undertake 120 hours of clinical placement where you will be able to apply knowledge and skills you have learned at university under the supervision of an allied health professional in clinical practice. You will be required to work safely, ethically, and professionally within your scope of practice, to communicate and collaborate effectively with others, and to seek help and advice when indicated. Allied health assistant duties will include clinical and non-clinical duties associated with client care.

How will this course be delivered?

Activity Hours Beginning Week Frequency
Blended learning
Placement – 120 hours of mandatory clinical placement at clinical practice site as per allocation in SONIA 120hrs Not applicable Once Only
Seminar – Online briefing and debriefing about clinical placement and course assessments. To be delivered in Orientation week and at the end of the session. See Canvas for details. 1hr Orientation week 2 times
Learning materials – Online learning materials to assist students in clinical placement and optimise graduate work-readiness and employability. See Canvas for details. 2hrs Week 1 5 times

Course Topics

Ethical, Legal, and Professional Practices in Allied Health

  • Understanding ethical principles, legal requirements, and professional conduct in clinical settings.
  • Promoting culturally safe practice in healthcare environments.

Self-Reflection and Professional Development

  • Identifying personal strengths and limitations.
  • Working within the scope of practice.

Clinical and Non-Clinical Support 

  • Assisting with both clinical and non-clinical tasks as directed by supervisors.
  • Ensuring safety and effectiveness in performing delegated duties.

Effective Communication and Documentation

  • Collaborating with clients and healthcare professionals.
  • Completing clinical documentation accurately and timely.

Screening, Therapy, and Mobility Assistance

  • Conducting screening assessments. 
  • Assisting with prescribed therapies, exercises, and mobility support.
  • Aiding clients with activities of daily living.

Monitoring Client Health and Reporting

  • Monitoring clients' health status and responses to treatments.
  • Reporting findings to allied health professionals. 

What level is this course?

100 Level (Introductory)

Engaging with discipline knowledge and skills at foundational level, broad application of knowledge and skills in familiar contexts and with support. Limited or no prerequisites. Normally, associated with the first full-time study year of an undergraduate program.

What is the unit value of this course?

12 units

How does this course contribute to my learning?

Course Learning Outcomes On successful completion of this course, you should be able to... Graduate Qualities Completing these tasks successfully will contribute to you becoming...
1 Demonstrate ethical, legal, professional, and culturally safe practice as an allied health assistant in clinical contexts Ethical
2 Critically reflect on personal strengths and limitations, work within scope of practice, and seek help and support when required Empowered
Problem solving
3 Assist allied health professionals with clinical and non-clinical duties in a safe and effective manner as per supervisor instructions/delegation Knowledgeable
Collaboration
4 Communicate and collaborate effectively with clients and other health professionals and complete clinical documentation in a timely and appropriate manner Ethical
Communication
5 Safely conduct screening assessments, assist individuals and groups to complete prescribed therapy and exercise, and support clients with mobility and activities of daily living Knowledgeable
6 Monitor the health status of clients and their response to screening assessments or prescribed treatment, and report findings to allied health professional as indicated Creative and critical thinker

Am I eligible to enrol in this course?

Refer to the UniSC Glossary of terms for definitions of “pre-requisites, co-requisites and anti-requisites”.

Pre-requisites

HLT107

Co-requisites

Not applicable

Anti-requisites

Not applicable

Specific assumed prior knowledge and skills (where applicable)

Not applicable

Microcredential Information

Not applicable

How am I going to be assessed?

Grading Scale

Limited Grading (PNP)

Pass (PU), Fail (UF). All assessment tasks are required to be passed for successful completion of the course.

Details of early feedback on progress

Students will receive regular feedback from their clinical educator(s) during clinical placement, which includes a formalised mid-way clinical assessment (same assessment tool as final assessment tool). Students will also receive notification if they are at risk of failing their clinical placement, and will need to discuss their performance with the AHA clinical coordinator and clinical educator and develop a learning plan with clear goals and actions for improvement for the remainder of the placement.

Assessment tasks

Delivery mode Task No. Assessment Product Individual or Group What is the duration / length? When should I submit? Where should I submit it?
All 1 Activity Participation Individual 
120 hours
 Refer to Format Online Submission
All 2 Placement performance Individual 
Clinical assessment form consisting of checklist criteria ranking students on a 3 point Likert Scale - "Not competent", "Minimally competent", "Competent". There is then space for the educator to provide qualitative feedback to explain scoring.
 Refer to Format Online Submission
All 3 Portfolio Individual 
Completion of electronic portfolio workbook.
 Refer to Format Online ePortfolio Submission
All 4 Code of Conduct Individual 
From enrolment in course to completion of all required learning activities (includes pre-placement learning activities and extension to placement where applicable).
 Refer to Format SONIA
All - Assessment Task 1:Clinical Placement Log of Hours
Goal: 
To verify the student has completed the mandatory 120 clinical placement hours. 
This assessment item will be graded as a PASS or FAIL. Students must pass this assessment item to pass the course.
Product: Activity Participation
Authorship Statement:
Format: 
Completion of placement within the designated timeframe will be evidenced using the ‘Log of Hours’ template, signed by the Practice Educator. Students are to upload their completed log of hours to Sonia at end of placement.
This assessment item will be graded as a PASS or FAIL. Students must pass this assessment item to pass the course.
Criteria:
No. Learning Outcome assessed
1 
Demonstrate participation and attendance on placement via submission of Log of Hours, signed by the Practice Educator, submitted to Sonia.
 1
Generic Skills: 
Communication, Organisation
All - Assessment Task 2:Clinical Educator Assessment
Goal: 
To verify the student has met minimal entry-level requirements to practice as an allied health assistant within at least one clinical practice setting.
This assessment item will be graded as a PASS or FAIL. Students must pass this assessment item to pass the course.
Product: Placement performance
Authorship Statement:
Format: 
Online written feedback assessment completed and submitted by supervisor at the completion of placement. The supervisor will discuss the scoring and feedback with the student before submission.
Criteria:
No. Learning Outcome assessed
1 
Professional Behaviour, Self-Management, Communication, Information Gathering, Service Provision, Evaluation, Documentation as outlined in the provided clinical assessment form is met.
 1 3 4 5 6
2 
Documentation signed by supervisor and student and uploaded as per submission format.
 1
Generic Skills: 
Communication, Collaboration, Problem solving, Organisation, Applying technologies, Information literacy
All - Assessment Task 3:E-Portfolio
Goal: 
To provide students with support in developing employability skills and evidencing their knowledge, skills and experiences within an electronic portfolio.
Product: Portfolio
Authorship Statement:
Format: 
Online submission after completion of clinical placement and the session.
Criteria:
No. Learning Outcome assessed
1 
All workbook activities, reflections, and evidence is provided and completed within the electronic portfolio.
 1 2
Generic Skills: 
Communication, Collaboration, Problem solving, Organisation, Applying technologies, Information literacy
All - Assessment Task 4:Code of Conduct
Goal: 
Student will understand and adhere to the discipline Code of Conduct throughout course as per standard requirement of UniSC WIL policy.
Product: Code of Conduct
Authorship Statement:
Format: 
Prior to commencement of the placement, the student will be provided with the Code of Conduct and a briefing explanation regarding the document. The student will be asked to review the document and agree to adhere to the standards for the duration of the course, and as they relate to the specific placement. This task requires students to comply with UniSC policy and procedures in order to prepare them for future practice. Code of Conduct to be signed on Sonia within timeframe as designated on Sonia.
Criteria:
No. Learning Outcome assessed
1 
The Course Coordinator or nominated UniSC staff member in liaison with placement supervisor will evaluate the quality and standard of student adherence to the Code of Conduct
 1
Generic Skills: 
Communication, Collaboration, Problem solving, Organisation, Applying technologies, Information literacy

Directed study hours

A 12-unit course will have total of 150 learning hours which will include directed study hours (including online if required), self-directed learning and completion of assessable tasks. Student workload is calculated at 12.5 learning hours per one unit.

What resources do I need to undertake this course?

Please note: Course information, including specific information of recommended readings, learning activities, resources, weekly readings, etc. are available on the course Canvas site– Please log in as soon as possible.

Prescribed text(s) or course reader

You need regular access to the resource(s) below. Many texts are available as ebooks through the Library at no additional cost.

Required? Author Year Title Edition Publisher
Recommended Mark Dutton 2022 Dutton's Introductory Skills and Procedures for the Physical Therapist Assistant n/a McGraw-Hill Education / Medical
Recommended Mary Elizabeth Patnaude, DHSc OTR/L,Mary Elizabeth Patnaude, DHSc, OTR/L 2021 Early's Physical Dysfunction Practice Skills for the Occupational Therapy Assistant n/a Elsevier Health Sciences
Recommended Karen Sladyk,Sally E. Ryan 2015 Ryan's Occupational Therapy Assistant n/a Slack

Specific requirements

To enrol in this course, students are required to meet "Fit for placement" requirements. Students also will be required to wear their allied health assistant clinical uniform for clinical simulations and clinical placements. Students will need to attend their clinical placement on a part or full time basis (as per allocation). Students are responsible for all costs associated with attending clinical placement, including transport and accommodation. Clinical placements will be sourced by UniSC predominantly in South East Queensalnd, and more specifically within the campus footprint of student's enrolled campus location.

How are risks managed in this course?

Risk assessments have been performed for all field activities and low to moderate levels of health and safety risk exists. Moderate risks may include working in an Australian bush setting, working with people, working outside normal office hours for example. It is your responsibility to review course material, search online, discuss with lecturers and peers and understand the health and safety risks associated with your specific course of study and to familiarise yourself with the University’s general health and safety principles by reviewing the online induction training for students, and following the instructions of the University staff.

What administrative information is relevant to this course?

Assessment: Academic Integrity

Academic integrity is the ethical standard of university participation. It ensures that students graduate as a result of proving they are competent in their discipline. This is integral in maintaining the value of academic qualifications. Each industry has expectations and standards of the skills and knowledge within that discipline and these are reflected in assessment.

Academic integrity means that you do not engage in any activity that is considered to be academic fraud; including plagiarism, collusion or outsourcing any part of any assessment item to any other person. You are expected to be honest and ethical by completing all work yourself and indicating in your work which ideas and information were developed by you and which were taken from others. You cannot provide your assessment work to others. You are also expected to provide evidence of wide and critical reading, usually by using appropriate academic references.

In order to minimise incidents of academic fraud, this course may require that some of its assessment tasks, when submitted to Canvas, are electronically checked through Turnitin. This software allows for text comparisons to be made between your submitted assessment item and all other work to which Turnitin has access.

Assessment: Additional Requirements

This course will be graded as Pass in a Limited Grade Course (PU) or Fail in a Limited Grade Course (UF) as per clause 5.1.1.3 and 5.1.1.4 of the Grades and Grade Point Average (GPA) - Academic Policy.

In a course eligible to use Limited Grades, all assessment items in that course are marked on a Pass/Fail basis and all assessment tasks are required to be passed for a student to successfully complete the course. Supplementary assessment is not available in courses using Limited Grades.

Assessment: Submission penalties

You must contact your Course Coordinator and provide the required documentation if you require an extension or alternate assessment.

Refer to the Assessment: Courses and Coursework Programs – Procedures.

Links to relevant University policy and procedures

For more information on Academic Learning & Teaching categories including:

  • Assessment: Courses and Coursework Programs
  • Review of Assessment and Final Grades
  • Supplementary Assessment
  • Central Examinations
  • Deferred Examinations
  • Student Conduct
  • Students with a Disability

For more information, visit https://www.usc.edu.au/explore/policies-and-procedures#academic-learning-and-teaching

Student Charter

UniSC is committed to excellence in teaching, research and engagement in an environment that is inclusive, inspiring, safe and respectful. The Student Charter sets out what students can expect from the University, and what in turn is expected of students, to achieve these outcomes.

General Enquiries

For course-specific questions, contact your teaching staff or Course Coordinator.  

For other enquiries or to access support, please contact Student Central: 

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