Psychology Placement Year

Hi! I'm a second-year psychology student, and I am applying for a placement for my third year. I've realised that there aren't many placement options for psychology students, especially with the NHS, so I was wondering if anyone could give me any ideas on how I could proceed and where I could possibly obtain experience that will benefit me in the future. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

Original post by gamze012

Hi! I'm a second-year psychology student, and I am applying for a placement for my third year. I've realised that there aren't many placement options for psychology students, especially with the NHS, so I was wondering if anyone could give me any ideas on how I could proceed and where I could possibly obtain experience that will benefit me in the future. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

Hi @gamze012 ,

I am a final year psychology student who did a placement last year with the NHS. They can be quite tricky to find!

Does your university help you find placements?

Some students found their placements themselves but they did have a certain criteria they had to meet for example they had to do a number of hours, have a psychologist as a supervisor etc. Some people worked in charities, universities and schools.

I hope this helps and I am happy to answer any questions if they are general about placement in Psychology.

For placement specific questions it is best to contact your tutors/the people who can help you specifically.

Alia
University of Kent Student Rep

Reply 2

gamze012

OP

6

Original post by University of Kent

Hi @gamze012 ,

I am a final year psychology student who did a placement last year with the NHS. They can be quite tricky to find!

Does your university help you find placements?

Some students found their placements themselves but they did have a certain criteria they had to meet for example they had to do a number of hours, have a psychologist as a supervisor etc. Some people worked in charities, universities and schools.

I hope this helps and I am happy to answer any questions if they are general about placement in Psychology.

For placement specific questions it is best to contact your tutors/the people who can help you specifically.

Alia
University of Kent Student Rep

Thanks for your reply, Alia! My university helps us, but there aren't many options for psychology students, especially the ones that want to do a placement with the NHS. If you don't mind me asking, what did you do during your placement, and how was the application process? I am worried that I might be a bit too late with applying to the NHS as it is really competitive.

Original post by gamze012

Thanks for your reply, Alia! My university helps us, but there aren't many options for psychology students, especially the ones that want to do a placement with the NHS. If you don't mind me asking, what did you do during your placement, and how was the application process? I am worried that I might be a bit too late with applying to the NHS as it is really competitive.

Hi @gamze012 ,

I applied through the university so I am not sure how it works if you want to do a placement with them and you are contacting them yourself. It is definitely worth trying. Have you been able to speak to someone about it at university so they can support or guide you with this?

Here are some things as an assistant psychologist I did day to day in my placement working mainly on the diagnostic side of autism:

•

As mine was based in a centre for children, I did some school observations (essentially going to their class and observing their behaviour and interaction with others) then I would write these up.

•

I made meeting notes and attended a lot of meetings!

•

I observed a lot of appointments and where appropriate wrote up notes for my supervisor so they could add these to the patients file.

•

I did some printing/filing.

•

I observed other professionals such as paediatricians, clinical nurse specialist and speech and language therapist.

The application process was not too competitive because my university had quite a few places in different areas. It is worth trying still. I did not get my place confirmed till January/ February (I cant remember exactly when sorry!) when I was in second year.

Which kind of placement within the NHS would you like to find? There may be some alternatives with other organisations or is there a specific reason NHS appeals to you?

I would speak to placement support team if you have it or someone who might be able to guide you on contacting places for placements outside of the ones university give you.

I hope this helps.

Alia
University of Kent Student Rep

Psychology Placement Year

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