Towards the end of my first placement

Posted by: Amy Richards - Posted on:

So, it’s coming towards the end of my first placement. The way the General Management scheme is structured means your first placement is 11 months long. Initially this sounds like a long time, but in reality, it really isn’t! It takes a good few months to get your head round things; a new organisation, new people, a new role and all of the extra stuff that comes along with being a part of the grad scheme such as the educational side of things and the experiential learning sessions.

I have learnt so much on this placement and have really valued my time at Sheffield Health and Social Care. I have had so many opportunities to get involved in a variety of things (which you can read about in my previous blogs if you wish!) and have met so many wonderful people and have forged some great working relationships! I am conscious of getting as many competencies signed off as possible, we need to be at 40% by the end of the placement, but I am aiming to get as many signed off as possible to ease the pressure in my next placement. Something I have to focus on in my final month is handing over the work that I have been doing to other members of staff and making sure procedures are in place for the work that I have been doing to carry on, or me working extremely hard to get it all done in the final few weeks! There is always more to be done though so I expect the final few weeks won’t consist of ‘winding down’ as you may expect!

Part of me doesn’t want to leave, but I am really looking forward to my flexi-placement at the Department of Health which starts in September and then moving to a large acute Trust; Sheffield Teaching Hospitals, in November. Mental health is the area of health I am most passionate about and interested in, so I feel fortunate to have had my first placement in this area. My flexi is in the mental health policy team, so I am excited to continue working on and around mental health, but I am anticipant to learn about acute providers and see if the cultures and ways of working are different. Who knows where I may end up after the scheme …

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