Clinical Placements

Students undertaking a clinical placement at a hospital or other health facility require student registration with the relevant national board. This process is undertaken by the Australian Health Practitioners Regulation Agency (AHPRA), the organisation responsible for the implementation of the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme across Australia.

It is completed at the time of the student’s enrolment in their degree and does not require action by the student. There is no fee for student registration.

The following degrees include a clinical placement component and mandatory student registration with the relevant national board:

• Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery
• Bachelor of Dental Surgery
• Bachelor of Oral Health
• Bachelor of Nursing
• Master of Clinical Nursing
• Bachelor of Physiotherapy (Honours)
• Bachelor of Occupational Therapy (Honours)

At the start of each year, the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences informs AHPRA of new students admitted into each of the Master of Psychology programs. It is important that, on enrolment, all students MUST apply for and obtain provisional registration with the Psychology Board of Australia.

The application form and details of fees payable are available on the Psychology Board of Australia website.

Students will not automatically be registered as a full practitioner on completion of their degree. This is a separate process, and must be completed by the student upon graduation. See the AHPRA website for details.

The University of Adelaide and the Minister for Health have a clinical placement agreement in place which allows the University to request clinical placements in SA Health facilities.

As part of this agreement students are required to complete a deed poll. A deed poll is an agreement between the student and SA Health to ensure patient information is treated with confidentiality and that the student has met the required clearances. By signing a deed poll students understand their obligations and agree to comply with the relevant state legislation.

The deed poll only needs to be signed once and will cover every SA Health placement students attend for the duration of their program (unless superseded).

For further information please visit SA Health: Better Placed.

All commencing students in medicine, dentistry, oral health, nursing, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech pathology and postgraduate counselling and psychotherapy, public health, and psychology degrees will be required to demonstrate a satisfactory criminal history clearance. For many of you the majority of clinical placements will be at SA Health sites where criminal clearances  are mandatory.

How to apply

DHS clearances

You will be instructed to either apply as an individual or the faculty’s Placement team will register your details with the Screening Unit, including your name, date of birth and email address. We will specify in the student registration which DHS clearances are required. Once the registration has taken place, you will receive an email from the Screening Unit prompting you to apply online (a link to the application will be provided in the email). If the Screening Unit does not identify any risk requiring assessment, the turnaround time for your clearance should be approximately 20 business days, so please apply as early as possible to ensure your placement is not delayed or cancelled.

DHS clearances cost $64.50 and expire after 3 and 5 years, depending on the clearance category.

If you need to renew your clearances, please ensure you contact cpteam@adelaide.edu.au at least eight weeks in advance of the expiration and you will be directed accordingly.

Visit the DHS website for further information.

NDIS Worker Check

Students attending placement with an NDIS provider may be directed by the Placement team to obtain an NDIS Worker Check. Students will be provided with instructions how to apply as an individual at Screening Unit Applications. An NDIS Worker Check is valid for five years.  

National Police Clearance

All students are required to obtain a National Police Clearance in addition to DHS clearances. This will cost $20 and expire after three years. Apply online for a national police clearance.

International students

International students are required to obtain a criminal history clearance from their home country and the DHS/National Police Clearance upon arrival to Australia.

Process if there is an issue with clearance

If there are any issues with your DHS clearances or National Police Clearance the circumstances will be fully evaluated by academic staff in the relevant school.

Confidentiality

DHS conducts the checks; the University does not have access to this information. Once this process has completed the requesting officer is issued with a copy of the clearances, if the University registered your details, and will only be used for the purposes of managing placements.

Students undertaking clinical placements are required to have the appropriate level of immunisation and PCI screening. 

Prior to commencing placement, students are required to be immunised and screened for all infectious diseases outlined in the Addressing vaccine preventable disease: Occupational assessment, screening, and vaccination policy 2024, completed through a GP provider of your choice. You will be required to provide evidence of immunity or blood taken to determine your immunity status for a number of diseases – it is necessary for the GP to work through these requirements to complete the Certificate of Compliance in full. You must retain all documents as evidence that you have been cleared to attend placement.

Compliance requirements in community and residential aged care settings can differ, students will be directed by University staff accordingly.

For your information only, there is an on campus GP service available to students.

Note: Applicable to postgraduate counselling and psychotherapy, public health and psychology students only - you may not be subject to all of the above and will be directed by University staff accordingly.

As part of the requirements for your clinical placements, you must undertake screening for tuberculosis infection with the South Australian Tuberculosis Services (SATB) prior to any clinical placement. This is a South Australian Government requirement.

It is the student's responsibility to acquire their Tuberculosis Screening Notification and take it with them to all clinical placements.

Please complete the online screening form. Upon completion of the form, you will receive an email from SATB advising you of further instructions to complete your tuberculosis screening.

Should you have any difficulties accessing or completing the online questionnaire, please email satb@adelaide.on.net.

Once you have completed and submitted the questionnaire, please remember to check your email for your screening results.

If you have concerns you were exposed to tuberculosis (TB) whilst on an overseas placement or holiday, you must reapply for screening.

In South Australia’s teaching hospitals you will access electronic medical records via the system Sunrise. To gain access to Sunrise you must undergo training.

The training modules are available to students in medicine, nursing, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech pathology, post-graduate psychology (clinical and health streams) and counselling and psychotherapy students on My Uni.

You will be contacted by the Placement team when the training needs to occur.

Students in the Master of Counselling and Psychotherapy and undergraduate Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy and Speech Pathology programs are required to complete RRHAN-EC training, ensuring you undertake the Fundamentals course.

Please upload proof of completion to Sonia Online.

Students in the Master of Psychology (Clinical, Health and Organisational and Human Factors streams) and undergraduate Physiotherapy, Speech Pathology and Occupational Therapy programs are required to complete the training – this is a requirement for some of our placement providers. ‘Through their eyes’ training is available.

Please ensure you upload proof of completion to Sonia Online.

The clinical placement non-attendance form must be completed by students in the following degrees if they are absent from placement or seeking approval to take leave during placement:

• Bachelor of Nursing
• Master of Clinical Nursing
• Master of Psychology (Health, Clinical, Organisational and Human Factors streams)
• Master of Counselling and Psychotherapy.

Students in the following degrees who are absent from placement or seeking approval to take leave during placement should log into SONIA and self-select the leave / non-attendance form, then submit it and upload any supporting documents:

• Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (Years 4-6)
• Bachelor of Dental Surgery (Years 3-5)
• Bachelor of Oral Health (Years 2-3)
• Bachelor of Physiotherapy (Honours)
• Bachelor of Occupational Therapy (Honours)
• Bachelor of Speech Pathology (Honours)

Please ensure, as a courtesy, your supervisor is aware of your absence and any other relevant staff for example for medicine students this might include the precinct staff, if necessary.

The University’s insurance certificates, also known as Memorandum of Insurance (covering medical malpractice, public and product liability, and professional indemnity), are updated annually on 31 December. The certificates are incorporated into our insurance guides and the various student placement guides, and are available from Legal and Risk.

Medical students are potentially at risk in many situations in which they provide clinical care (not restricted to the hospital environment). It is therefore extremely important that every student is indemnified, whether you’re in first year or sixth. Do not assume the University provides you with full coverage, as outlined under the Memorandum of insurance (see above).

The Adelaide Medical Students’ Society (AMSS) also has valuable information explaining the importance of having medical indemnity insurance on their website. Case studies are provided to highlight how such an insurance policy (and AMSS membership) can assist you.

Some suggested providers include Medical Insurance Group Australia (MIGA) and MDA National. After securing your cover, please ensure that you upload proof of your insurance to Sonia.

Medical, dental, oral health, nursing, physiotherapy, occupational therapy and speech pathology students are required to complete the National Hand Hygiene Initiative (NHHI) online training modules before commencing clinical placement. The purpose of the National Hand Hygiene Initiative is to develop a national approach to improving hand hygiene and monitor its effectiveness.

You will need to select 'Register new profile' and ensure you select Education Facility when asked who should see your records.

Students in the Physiotherapy, Speech Pathology, and Occupational Therapy programs are required to complete ‘provide basic emergency life support’ training (HLTAID010). Your preferred training provider must be a registered and nationally recognised training organisation (RTO). Visit training.gov.au to verify your training provider is an RTO.

Students in the Nursing program are required to complete a joint training package for basic life support and manual handling. A link to the training module is available in Sonia Online. 

Please ensure you upload proof of completion to Sonia Online.