Professional Practice Placement is assessed through appraisal of practice competencies during clinical placements, and competencies must be reached as evidenced by mid-term and end-of-term placement review documents. These documents must be reviewed, approved and signed by on-site supervisors, the placement co-coordinator and the University supervisors.

The following key dates are required as part of this Assessment Task:

- Placement Agreement: Due, Friday of Week 1

- Mid-Placement Review: Due, Friday of Week 7

- End-of-Placement Review: Due, Friday, of Week 12

The placements will be assessed on the standard competencies and goals which are listed on the placement documentation and include:

1. Knowledge of the Discipline
2. Ethical, Legal, and Professional Matters
3. Psychological Assessment and Measurement
4. Intervention Strategies
5. Research and Evaluation
6. Communication and Interpersonal Skills
7. Working with People from Diverse Groups
8. Practice Across the Lifespan
9. Response to Supervision

Sufficient hours of placement will be checked against the Log of Hours.

Reflective journals are to be uploaded weekly. Reflections need to be no more than one page on average and should reflect personal and clinical learning from the lecture and/or from discussions of your clinical placements during Clinic Team III. Reflective journals should demonstrate the nexus of learning between placement activities, Clinic Team lectures and professional reading. The journal should be utilised to reflect at a non-superficial level, the experiences and conversations during class that have stimulated your thinking and self reflection about your practice and development as a psychologist.

To pass this assessment, a reflective piece needs to be uploaded every week, not at the end of term. The reflections need to discuss the experiences and conversations during class and during your placements, that have stimulated your thinking, growth and self reflection about your practice and development as psychologist.

Students will each present a de-identified case study to the class. The case study will present clinical information about a client seen during the course of their external placement. The presentation must detail clinical history taking, a case formulation, provisional and differential diagnoses. Any treatment plan will need to comply with the case formulation. Students are required to lead the class in a discussion that will assist in differential diagnoses and case formulation.

The Case Presentation (Pass/Fail). In order to achieve a grade of Pass, the presentation needs to include:

• Relevant referral information (including client initials or pseudonym, gender, age, referral source, and the reason for referral)
• Completed Domains of Functioning Assessment (with sufficient information to complete a case formulation)
• Case formulation (completed with the group and facilitated by the student) / differential diagnosis (where relevant)
• Summary of assessment or intervention to date clearly linked to the case formulation
• Clarity and quality of presentation

The case report is a de-identified client report completed on the placement. The report must be accompanied by the cover page template and follow the described format. The placement supervisor needs to sign off on the report (as it belongs to the placement site and all identifying details need to remain confidential to the placement site). The placement supervisor takes responsibility for the report within the agency. However, as the report is required for the assessment of competencies, the student will need to submit a de-identified copy of the report to Moodle. For the purpose of this assessment, the placement supervisor must sign the coversheet to indicate that the report is appropriately de-identified to be submitted for the assessment.

The case report is a pass/fail assessment of 2000 words. To pass this assessment, students must achieve and an overall mark of 70 out of 100. The report will include a Comprehensive Needs Assessment, Opinions, Intervention Plan/Recommendations, Evaluation and Reflection sections, and be presented using appropriate Formatting and Referencing as described in the Assessment Criteria.

Case Report (Pass/Fail). To pass this assessment, the student must have a mark of 70 or higher out of 100).

1. Comprehensive Needs Assessment (30 marks)

• A clear reason for referral is provided
• Domains of Focus are described, based on Domains of Functioning
• Relevant assessments are selected (including a brief rationale) and clearly described
• Assessments results reported appropriately under the relevant Domain of Focus
• Risk Assessment and management of risk factors are clearly documented
• Relevant behavioural observations including current mental state are described
• The summary of strengths and limitations reflects the findings of the Comprehensive Needs Assessment

2. Opinions (25 marks)

• A brief formulation based on 5P’s
• Formal diagnosis is clearly described using standard diagnostic/classification systems
• Diagnosis is logically discussed, well-justified, and integrated with the formulation
• Discussion about whether symptoms meet all diagnostic criteria using examples from the client's presentation
• Differential diagnoses are clearly described and include reasons for inclusion or exclusion

3. Intervention Plan / Recommendations (25 marks)

• A brief outline of the intervention plan with treatment goals or recommendations clearly aligned with opinions described in the previous section. This includes adjustments made for culturally appropriate practices
• Provides specific intervention strategies that will be used for achieving these goals/recommendations and plans for managing risk factors if these are indicated
• The intervention plan is realistic given the experience of the psychologist, the complexity of the issues, and the number of sessions available for treatment

4. Evaluation and Reflection (15 marks)

• A clear description of how you would evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention, using person-centred and evidence-based measures of change
• A brief reflection on intervention including lessons learned and how practice might be modified in light of the experience

5. Formatting and Referencing (5 marks)

• Report and reference list in correct APA format, including references to tests used
• Appropriate and clear language has been used throughout without jargon or colloquialisms, and grammar and spelling are correct
• The report is within 10% of the word limit (2000 words)

The report has been signed off by a supervisor from the relevant placement

A supervisor has signed the cover sheet to indicate that the reports as been sufficiently deidentified to submit

Total Score /100. A detailed marking rubric will be available in Moodle.