If I can stress one thing as you go into your second placement, it’s this:
MAKE. A. PLAN.
Plan your DOPS, plan your competencies, plan your CBDs. Structure everything you do. I realised this much later than I perhaps should have done, and whilst everything is now ticking along nicely, I was very, VERY stressed in the middle of Y2. Do things logically; the first week or so, try to get involved with everything. Don’t dally, though, as you won’t have as much time as you think, after that. Focus on one thing at a time, and systematically get signed off on what you need to as you become more confident.
You’ll have somewhere in the region of 90 competencies to complete and some of these are incredibly mundane; getting them out of the way as quickly as possible is paramount to not only your placement enjoyment, but your sanity, also.
My advice for Year 1 still stands, but considering the sheer volume of areas to complete I’ll add some bits that worked for me in Y2.
Write up each AMBP, AMECG, ETT and Analysis in a word processor. In detail. GREAT detail. Add everything, no matter how tenuous it might seem. Preamble, cleaning and infection control, confidentiality, and filing should surround your run-down of the bulk of the appointment, with every single thing that you do documented. If you do this, then you’re halfway there, as the majority of the boxes will require this information. All you have to do, once you’ve copied and pasted everything, is tailor each entry to the specifics of the competency.
You might have noticed how similar some of the requirements are to those you completed in Y1…
… use these again. Alter them to fit what’s being asked of you this time around, but use them again. If they’ve been assessed and signed off, then they’re worthy of your ePortfolio, so there’s no reason you can’t.
Remember to have fun when you’re out there, but try to stay on top of things whilst you do.
The Student Physiologist 