Provincial Placement Procedures
Standard Placement Procedures:
1. Working in chronological order of placement dates, start by looking at the students' first location and preferred practice choices listed on the application.
2. Using our contact list, select sites matching - by reviewing site information and prerequisites from application.
3. Once a suitable site has been found in the geographic area, send an email to the site contact advising that a student(s) is looking for a placement. Include placement dates and as much information about the student(s) as possible (eg. level, university registered with, field of interest, vehicle availability, previous placement experience, and any other special considerations). The site can choose which student they prefer.
4. If more than one student from various universities has the same requests, a multiple email is sent.
5. Contact three (3) sites for first preference, and at least one or more sites for both second and third preferences. Each application should have a minimum of five (5) sites contacted.
6. Make note on the application of each site that has been approached for the student.
7. If a site agrees to accommodate a student, advise the site contact that you will contact the university, who will then contact the student with the offer. Request any additional information regarding the placement, preceptor, contact information, etc. Contact the fieldwork coordinator at the university by email advising them of the offer received for the applicable student.
8. The student has 3 days to either accept or decline the offer.
9. If a site doesn't prefer one student over another with the same request, ask the university fieldwork coordinator to choose who gets the placement.
10. Once the fieldwork coordinator replies with the student's acceptance, contact the facility informing of them the student has accepted the placement and the Student Information Sheet (SIS) is being prepared and will be sent to all involved parties shortly.
11. Fill in all the appropriate information into the SIS. Email a pdf version of the SIS to the university fieldwork coordinator and site contacts (including preceptor if applicable).
12. If a match is made and the student declines, the student now goes back to catchment. If the offer is made and is not a good match to the students application, NFPS continues to look for a placement.
University of British Columbia Catchment Area:
• NFPS recruits placements for this area from the site list provided by the University of British Columbia.
• Once all attempts are made to find student placements by NFPS and if there are still placements remaining, UBC has offered to provide a list of unused placement opportunities once all their in-catchment students have been successfully placed.
• Due to affiliation agreement issues, out-of-catchment students from Dalhousie University can only be placed at private sites / facilities that are not part of the provincial health authorities for placement opportunities.
University of Alberta Catchment Area:
• NFPS works closely with Alberta Health Services for all placement requests specific to sites under their authority in Alberta to recruit for placement opportunities on behalf of out-of-catchment students.
• Private sites and facilities that are not part of the Alberta Health Sciences network are also recruited by NFPS using the site list provided by the University of Alberta.
University of Manitoba Catchment Area:
• NFPS recruits placements for this area from the site list provided by the University of Manitoba.
• NFPS works with the University of Manitoba fieldwork coordinator around out-of catchment placement requests specific to the province to share information on potential site availability.
Queen's University Catchment Area:
• NFPS recruits placements for this area from the site list provided by Queen's University.
• At the end of a placement session, if there are out-of-catchment students still unplaced, fieldwork coordinators have offered to work with NFPS in securing last minute placements.
McMaster University Catchment Area:
• NFPS recruits placements for this area from the site list provided by McMaster University.
• At the end of a placement session, if there are out-of-catchment students still unplaced, fieldwork coordinators have offered to work with NFPS in securing last minute placements.
University of Western Ontario Catchment Area:
• NFPS recruits placements for this area from the site list provided by the University of Western Ontario.
• At the end of a placement session, if there are out-of-catchment students still unplaced, fieldwork coordinators have offered to work with NFPS in securing last minute placements.
University of Ottawa Catchment Area:
• NFPS recruits placements for this area from the site list provided by the University of Ottawa.
• As requested by the placement sites, NFPS approaches the fieldwork coordinator with placement requests from bilingual students. This is to respect the limited francophone placement opportunities in the catchment area.
• At the end of a placement session, if there are out-of-catchment students still unplaced, fieldwork coordinators have offered to work with NFPS in securing last minute placements.
University of Toronto Catchment Area:
• NFPS recruits placements for this area from the site list provided by the University of Toronto.
• Toronto has many affiliation agreements with hospitals and heath authorities in the area that are established annually. If there is a placement opportunity not being used a University of Toronto student, NFPS can use it; however, the fieldwork coordinators do not inform NFPS of this availability.
• NFPS does all site and placement recruitment in Toronto independent of the fieldwork coordinators.
McGill University Catchment Area:
• NFPS works with the fieldwork coordinators for placement requests specific to the McGill University catchment area to ensure francophone and bilingual requirements are met.
University of Montreal Catchment Area:
• NFPS works with the fieldwork coordinators for placement requests specific to the University of Montreal catchment area to ensure francophone and bilingual requirements are met.
Dalhousie University Catchment Area:
• NFPS works with the fieldwork coordinator at Dalhousie for placement requests specific to Nova Scotia.
• NFPS works with Brenda Head for placement requests specific to Newfoundland. It is understood that Newfoundland is happy to accommodate students who are returning home for their placement experiences. As such, students who are native to Newfoundland are encouraged to submit their applications in advance so that their requests can be prioritized.
• NFPS works with Heather Cutcliffe for all placement requests specific to Prince Edward Island.
• As New Brunswick does their own out of catchment placement, NFPS works with Meghan Osetebo for all placement requests specific to their area.
Procedures for the Northern Ontario Area:
When students are applying for Northern Ontario placements, the school must apply through the Northern Ontario School of Medicine. Students are encouraged to apply many months in advance. There is a fee schedule, and students must fill out the online application form, including that they are studying OT, and what type of placement and preceptor they require. Students can contact Marie Prpic, Clinical Placement Coordinator, Northern Ontario School of Medicine, phone: 807-766-7322, toll-free (Within Canada): 1-800-461-8777 or email marie.prpic@nosm.ca. Alternatively, contact Jeannette Salmi, Manager, Clinical Placements, phone: 705-662-7119 or email: jeannette.salmi@nosm.ca
Additional Recruitment Procedures
Recruitment Process for University of British Columbia Students:
• To respect the amount of placements that are provided by the University of British Columbia catchment area, NFPS does inform the fieldwork coordinator when there is a student from the University of British Columbia seeking an out of catchment placement opportunity.
Placement Site Lead Procedures:
• NFPS greatly appreciates receiving placement suggestions from all University Fieldwork Coordinators. To assist this process, NFPS has developed a Placement Site Lead Form to ensure there is documented follow up when leads are provided.
• The Placement Site Lead Form is available on the NFPS website (www.nfps.ca). Any University Fieldwork Coordinator is able to access this form and send it to NFPS for their attention and follow up.