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Internships and Distance Learning. Tricia Berry, MATL, OTR/L Director of Clinical Placement Kaplan University. WHY?. Benefits to school. Integrates students into their community Additional venue for student success Receives feedback regarding student skills
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Internships and Distance Learning Tricia Berry, MATL, OTR/L Director of Clinical Placement Kaplan University
Benefits to school • Integrates students into their community • Additional venue for student success • Receives feedback regarding student skills • Opportunities for program modification • Career placement
Benefits to business • Additional staff assistance (unpaid?) • Foster professional development • Develop training/management skills • Potential development of existing employees
Benefits to student • Gains experience and confidence • Non-class opportunities • Builds resume for employment • Opportunity to remediate skills • Bridge to employment
Distance Education Challenges • Students and staff spread across numerous communities • Lack of face to face contact with students • No opportunities to verify hands on skills prior to externship
Pre-program planning • Identify potential program • Conduct feasability analysis by program • Trends for profession • Specialized market needs • Regulatory requirements • Competition for sites • Collate data to determine if viable
Additional considerations • Mandatory or optional • Paid or unpaid • Who arranges for site • Student • University staff • Collaborative effort
Implementation • Early notification to student • Develop documentation • Legal agreements • Marketing materials • Student and site requirements • Consider system to forecast needs • Determine how to stay connected
Implementation considerations • Ensuring sites are appropriate • Student and site orientations • Documentation • Hours completed • Skills completed • Reporting absences/missed hours • Problem resolution • Consistent contact for site • Overcommunication to students
Post-Implementation • Be willing to learn as you go • Gather feedback • Students • Internship sites • Employers • Make modifications as needed
Questions and discussion Contact information: Tricia Berry tberry@kaplan.edu (515)490-2621