How can I tell whether an allied health graduate program will suit my personality, interests, and career aspirations? Or prepare me well for working as a clinician? What should I look for in a grad program?
If you’re asking questions like these, you’re already on the right track to choosing a grad program that will give you the best possible start to your career – alongside the skills that will stand you in good stead well beyond your first year.
Ultimately, a graduate program should help you crossover from being a student to a practising clinician, with the confidence and competencies for managing caseloads, collaborating within multidisciplinary teams (MDTs), coping with workplace dynamics and responsibilities, and, if you have chosen to work in the disability space, navigating the NDIS.
To help you in your exciting yet daunting mission of choosing a grad program that’s right for you, we’ve created the following 10 questions, kicking off with …
1. Is the graduate program structured?
A graduate program that is structured has many benefits as it usually combines both professional and personal development, often through a combination of training sessions, on-the-job experiences, continuing support and mentoring from senior and experienced clinicians. A structured program also provides transparency, revealing how it is organised and what it offers, which can help you assess the program, and give you peace of mind.
If a company or organisation is offering a structured program, check that it also includes
- Time to discuss what you’ve learnt with fellow graduates and senior/experienced clinicians;
- Moments set aside to reflect and recharge, which can help you process new information and maintain your energy and wellbeing;
- Team bonding activities, which can strengthen your work dynamic when you collaborate in MDTs and help build relationships with your grad program colleagues that are positive and supportive (which is important as they will become your workplace support team).
2. Does the program offer variety and MDT experience?
As an allied health professional (AHP), you will support a wide variety of patients and NDIS participants, each with different needs and goals, so consider a program that offers a varied caseload and development opportunities from senior/experienced clinicians. A program that provides this will further broaden your knowledge of chronic health conditions, disabilities, and injuries, and strengthen the soft skills you will often draw on, like problem-solving, active listening, and organisation.
Furthermore, as allied health professionals often work in multidisciplinary teams (MDTs), a grad program that includes sessions working within an MDT, with two or more experienced/senior clinicians, is vital for gaining experience in this approach to support and care including an understanding about how MDT teams function and each clinician contributes.
3. Does the program provide one-to-one support and supervision from a senior/experienced clinician?
While group presentations and tutorials are wonderful settings for learning, being guided one-on-one by an experienced clinician provides opportunities to ask questions and gain valuable insights and tips from their first-hand experience.
So before committing to a program, find out whether it has dedicated time set aside for your clinical supervisor to shadow you on visits with participants.
4. Does the grad program provide additional support and quality assurance audits on reports and clinical notes?
Also ask whether this support sits outside of your allocated clinical supervision time and is it ongoing, continuing after the program concludes.
Better Rehab, for example, has a dedicated quality assurance (QA) team who conduct audits on our clinicians’ clinical notes and reports to make sure they are written to the highest quality standard and meet funding body requirements.
It’s also beneficial to find out whether a grad program includes report assessment as part of the supervision, as this can significantly reduce time for discussing participant cases and receiving feedback on your work.
5. Who will conduct the graduate program?
This is an important question as senior and experienced clinicians enrich any grad program with vital knowledge and insights gained from first-hand experience. A program that is designed and run by experienced/senior clinicians includes the need-to-know knowledge and skills they have gained from supporting a wide variety of people to achieve their goals. Plus, when they are past program alumni, they know what first-year graduates need to know, and how they are feeling (excited, a little nervous, overwhelmed, eager to start their careers…!).
6. Will I have a mentor?
A clinical mentor can improve your grad program experience as you will have more opportunities to learn and grow your confidence and skillets, such as opportunities to ‘shadow’ during patient or participant sessions and receiving one-on-one information and advice on many aspects of working as an AHP, from caseload management to MDT dynamics and managing challenges and issues.
Essentially, your mentor is like a school buddy, who helps settle you in, shows you the ropes, and looks after you until you’ve found your feet!
7. Does the program include soft skills?
As every allied health discipline is people focused, from supporting and caring for patients and NDIS participants and liaising closely with their family, carers and support workers to being part of a MDT, interpersonal and other soft skills are essential.
This has been backed by research, with studies revealing that soft skills
- Are needed to effectively respond to and manage various demands and situations that might develop when working in a clinical setting;
- Can improve the quality of support and patient/participant satisfaction;
- And can help clinicians sustain the energy and passion for their role and avoid burnout.
These studies also found that soft skills, such as active listening, problem solving, decision-making, negotiation, teamwork, organisation, stress management, and adaptability, can be developed or strengthened through graduate programs via personal development and support.
8. Does the program offer a healthy workplace?
What does a healthy allied health workplace look like? For starters, it makes support readily available and easy to access, like an experienced clinician to discuss your concerns or challenges.
A healthy workplace is also one that
- Values you and encourages and supports you to value your expertise and efforts;
- Enables you to have a good work-life balance, which can be achieved with greater flexibility, such as being able to structure your schedule around your personal commitments (studies have found that work flexibility promotes wellbeing and job satisfaction);
- Supports your physical and emotional wellbeing with programs and initiatives such as an employee assistance program and wellbeing days;
- Recognises and rewards you when you go above and beyond and achieve career goals;
- Supports your career aspirations;
- Champions diversity and inclusion;
- And nurtures collaboration and team spirit, for example by organising regular team get-togethers and team bonding events, big and small.
A graduate program that gives you the skills to foster a healthy relationship with work will help you maintain your wellbeing and sustain your energy for your career. These skills can range from managing the demands of your caseload to knowing when to take a wellbeing day or seek support from a colleague or senior clinician.
9. What are the program’s values?
Values provide a ‘window’ into how a company or organisation operates and how they value their employees and patients/participants (like a moral compass!). So, when assessing a graduate program, check out the hosting company or organisation’s values, to discover whether they align with your own.
10. Do they support career development and progression?
If you aspire to move into clinical or operational leadership, or practice a specialisation of your discipline (such as paediatrics and driver trained OT), look for graduate programs offered by companies and organisations that provide career development opportunities and support, such as training, study assistance and/or leave, and mentoring.
The 3 takeaways on grad program selection
From the above 10 questions, three key features to look for in an allied health graduate program are:
- A structured program with professional and personal development (including strengthening soft skills) designed and delivered by experienced/senior clinicians.
- Plenty of support from experienced/senior clinicians to help you solidifying your knowledge and skills, adjust to the workplace, maintain your wellbeing, find your clinical ‘voice’, and set you up for a rewarding career.
- A healthy workplace culture that helps you maintain your health and wellbeing, supports diversity, collaboration, inclusion, and career progress, and recognises and rewards your achievements and milestones.
As you’ve no doubt gathered, transparency is key when it comes to grad program selection, as the more information you can gather, the more empowered you are to choose the one that’s right for you.
If you’re a grad looking to see what’s available, learn more about our industry-leading graduate program.
