Allied health professional development and training

The Allied and Scientific Health Office (ASHO) is committed to advocating for, promoting and providing ongoing professional development opportunities and related information for allied and scientific health professionals.

Resources available include:

Allied Health Professionals + Professional Development Reimbursement Program (AHP+PDRP)

The AHP+PDR Program provides a process for dissemination and reporting of ratified additional professional development funds for eligible SA Health staff employed under the South Australian Modern Public Sector Enterprise Agreement: Salaried 2017 (PDF 2.3MB).

Funding for eligible Country Health SA Local Health Network (CHSALHN) employees is administered through the Country Allied Health Clinical Enhancement Program plus (CAHCEP+) program.

Mental Health Clinical Specialisation Program  

Eligibility: employees of SA Health, working full-time or part-time as an allied health or scientific professional in Mental Health Services.

Duration: semester 1 study in 2024 (January to June).

Mode: online

About

The Allied and Scientific Health Office (ASHO) is offering allied health professionals in SA Health Mental Health Services the opportunity to receive funding for units of study in the HETI Higher Education Applied Mental Health Studies program (Microcredential – Professional Development Units).

Health Education and Training Institute (HETI) curriculum draw on leading specialists and experts, offering several study options within the Applied Mental Health Studies program. All Applied Mental Health Studies units are underpinned by recovery principles with an emphasis on the application to clinical practice.

Study Criteria

Mental Health Clinical Specialisation Program funding must be used to undertake and successfully complete a study unit(s) as part of the Clinical Specialisation Program through Health Education and Training Institute (HETI) in the Applied Mental Health Studies for:

Allied health professionals can apply to receive a funding for a single unit (50 hours of study), or multiple units (up to a maximum of 150 hours of study – three units).

Applicants can choose specific units from a predetermined list and have flexibility over the number of units they wish to complete.

Units can be used as stackable credit towards partial completion of a degree program or specialisation in HETI Applied Mental Health Studies courses. This includes core units in the pathway toward a Postgraduate Award (Graduate Certificate), should you continue to study (self-funded) in the Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Specialisation, Child and Youth Mental Health Specialisation, or Older Persons Mental Health Specialisation. Note that currently funding is only available for units completed in semester 1, 2024.

How to apply

To apply for the Mental Health Clinical Specialisation Program, complete the online application form by 5 January 2024.

Key dates

27 November 2023: Program applications open

5 January 2024: Program applications close

February 2024: Semester 1 commences

June 2024: Semester 1 concludes

Please refer to HETI 2024 Semester dates and Teaching Periods for all key information and dates.

More information

Fact sheet: Mental Health Clinical Specialisation Program (PDF 536KB)

If you would like information or advice regarding the Mental Health Clinical Specialisation Program, please contact the ASHO Mental Health Team:

Email: healthalliedandscientifichealth@sa.gov.au

Phone: (08) 8226 6406

Online clinical supervision courses

For SA Health staff only - https://lms.digitalmedia.sahealth.sa.gov.au/login

You will need to create an account. You can use any email address (it doesn't have to be an SA Health email) and a password you can easily remember. The first time you access the courses you will need to be logged in to a SA Health computer to retrieve the access key to unlock the courses. The Access Key is gained from the Country Health WIKI or SA Health Allied and Scientific Health Intranet page. Once you have unlocked the courses, you can access them from anywhere.

Funded by ASHO and developed under the guidance of the Clinical Supervision eModules Steering Committee with Local Health Network support, the courses support clinical staff in the development and maintenance of their skills in supervision.

Fundamentals of Clinical Supervision

This course is about the clinical supervision of qualified health professionals. It provides you with the opportunity to think about your own role as a supervisor or supervisee and how you can enhance the supervision relationship.

Clinical Supervision in Practice

Throughout the course you will explore opportunities and challenges in supervision in your role as a supervisor and identify strategies for improving outcomes for yourself, your supervisee and their clients. If you are new to supervision or have never had any formal training in being a clinical supervisor, you should complete the Fundamentals of Clinical Supervision course first.

Advanced Clinical Supervision

This course builds on the Clinical Supervision in Practice course and explores supervising clinical supervisors at an advanced level.

Better Placed: Strengthening our Clinical Placement System

SA Health’s commitment to educating its future workforce, Better Placed: Strengthening our Clinical Placement System (PDF 2MB) outlines the proposed directions and four primary goals that will improve clinical placement effectiveness and capacity through good governance arrangements and systems.

Please see the Better Placed page for additional information.

Clinical Placement Management System — Placeright™ online courses available for SA Health staff

The following Allied Health (AH) professions are using the Placeright™ online clinical placement management system for the administration of clinical placements: Audiology, Exercise Physiology, Nutrition and Dietetics, Occupational Therapy, Optometry, Orthoptics, Orthotics & Prosthetics, Physiotherapy, Podiatry, Radiography/Medical Imaging, Social Work and Speech Pathology.

To open Digital Media e-Learning course use Google Chrome (not Internet Explorer).

First time users will need to initially access this web platform from a SA Health computer. The Placeright™ courses can be found using the search box at the top of the page (search “placeright”) or by scrolling down. Three courses have been developed: Clinical Placement and Site Administrators, Unit Manager and Supervisor. Select the appropriate course dependant on your level of access. Please use the modules as an ongoing reference as required.

Motivational interviewing resources

A repository of motivational interviewing resources complied by Flinders University that clinicians are able to access to support their learning and practice.

Any queries, feel free to give me a call on (08) 8226 6350.

Further information

For further information please contact ASHO at HealthAlliedandScientificHealth@sa.gov.au.