A student arrives on Monday
Your clinic has agreed to host a podiatry student from a local university for a few weeks. They arrive with a placement handbook, a competency document and forms that need signing at set points. Patients need to be asked whether they mind a student observing or treating under supervision. The supervising podiatrist needs to fit teaching into a full diary.
By the end of the second week, consent is being asked in the treatment room as the patient sits down, the competency document is half-filled from memory, and nobody is sure which appointments the student attended.
Why placements generate so much admin
- Patient consent is asked on the day, which is awkward for patients and staff.
- Suitable appointments for the student are chosen by scanning the diary each morning.
- Hours and the range of cases seen must be recorded for the university.
- Competency sign-offs and feedback forms are on paper, in the university's format.
- Several podiatrists may supervise, each recording differently.
- Each university has its own paperwork and deadlines.
What it costs to host without a system
Supervisors' time spent on forms rather than teaching. Patients put on the spot about consent. Students with gaps in their case records. Paperwork submitted late to the university. And clinics deciding not to host again, which is a loss for recruitment and for the profession.
| Placement task | Today | With a placement record |
|---|---|---|
| Patient consent | Asked in the room | Asked with the appointment reminder |
| Choosing sessions | Scanning the diary | Appointments marked as student suitable |
| Hours and cases | Written from memory | Recorded from the diary |
| Sign-offs | Paper forms | Recorded and exported in the university's format |
| Several supervisors | Different habits | One shared record |
How we build placement admin
- Each student has a placement record: university, dates, supervising podiatrists, and the competencies or case types the university asks them to cover.
- Appointment types your podiatrists consider suitable for a student are marked, and those appointments during the placement are highlighted in the diary.
- The reminder for each of those appointments asks the patient whether they are happy for a student to be present, with a simple yes or no. Anyone who says no, or does not answer, is treated without the student.
- The student's attendance and the type of case are recorded from the diary, with the supervisor confirming at the end of the session.
- Supervisors record sign-offs and feedback on a tablet against the university's competencies.
- At the points the university sets, the forms are produced in its format, pre-filled for the supervisor to check and sign.
- At the end, a summary of the placement is kept for your records.
What students may do, and under what supervision, is decided by your podiatrists and the university's requirements. Patient consent is asked in the way your policy sets. We build the admin around those decisions.
Home visits can be part of a placement too. Where your podiatrists take a student on a round, the patient or their booking contact is asked in advance in the same way, and the round list shows which visits the student can join.
What hosting feels like afterwards
Patients are asked about students politely and in advance. Supervisors see which sessions suit the student without scanning the diary. Records build up as the placement goes. University forms are checked and signed rather than written from scratch. And hosting becomes something the clinic is happy to do again.
Is placement paperwork putting you off?
- Patient consent for students is asked in the treatment room.
- Supervisors choose student sessions by scanning the diary.
- Placement forms are filled in from memory.
- Several podiatrists supervise and record differently.
- You have considered not hosting students because of the admin.