HSPNet Policy

Fraser Health Authority in British Columbia, which has a number of sites available for OT student placements, now requires those seeking placements to fill out two mandatory forms for their HSPNet process.

Therefore, students applying to NFPS for a placement experience in British Columbia will be required to fill out and submit these additional forms while submitting their NFPS application. Fieldwork coordinators have these forms which can also be found online at http://www.nfps.ca/PlacementPolicy.html. If these forms are not submitted with the NFPS application, it will mean any sites within the Fraser Health Authority will not be an option for placement.

Placement Request Form for non HSPnet users (Excel)

Student Consent Form for HSPNET (PDF)

Conflict of Interest Policy

It is a potential conflict of interest for students to begin placements at facilities and/or with preceptors who are previously known to them either personally or professionally. Prior relationships can consciously or unconsciously impact current relationships and influence the evaluation of the student. It is the responsibility of the student to notify their Fieldwork Coordinator if he/she has been matched at a facility or with a preceptor with whom she has already had a relationship of any kind to determine if a conflict of interest is present and how it should best be managed.

Student-Found Placement Policy

Students are not allowed to contact sites in-catchment or out-of-catchment to recruit their own placement. They must apply through NFPS. Students who have been offered a fieldwork placement through a personal connection must provide their university fieldwork coordinator with the OT's contact information. This contact info will be passed on to NFPS and placement offers will be made with consideration of the overall recruitment strategy for that session. If a student contacts a site directly to recruit their own out-of-catchment placement, their application to NFPS will be withdrawn without reimbursement and any found placement opportunity may be offered to another NFPS applicant.

Site/Student Interview Policy

Depending on the nature of a placement experience, a site may request to interview a student before confirming a placement offer. Interviews are not arranged so sites can have multiple students compete for one placement via an interview elimination process. If the interview is requested to confirm experience and/or language capabilities, NFPS will contact the Fieldwork Coordinator who can opt to allow the interview to take place, or not. NFPS does not arrange the interviews, that is the responsibility of the Fieldwork Coordinator, site and student to find a mutually agreeable time. If the placement does not proceed, NFPS will continue to work to find a match for the student and it will not be counted as a decline.

Student Cancellation Policy

If a student withdraws from a confirmed placement within two or three weeks (dependent upon the circumstances) before or after the placement begins, Fieldwork Coordinators are responsible for contacting both the placement site and NFPS to inform both parties that the placement will not occur, or has been terminated. Every effort must be made to maintain the positive relationship with the site. In the future, NFPS reserves the right to refuse the student application if said student have cancelled a previous placement without just cause. It is the Fieldwork Coordinator's responsibility to ensure the cancellation was valid and not simply a "change of mind." Last minute cancellations mean a lost opportunity for other students who requested a similar experience and were sent back in-catchment due to a lack of availability.