CERTIFICATE OF CLINICAL PRACTICE (CCP)
| Note: |
Applicants are advised that a Certificate of Clinical
Practice should be obtained as soon as possible, when the member
is engaged (or expects to be engaged) in clinical audiology.
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GUIDELINES AND APPLICATION PROCEDURES
Item 1 Purposes Underlying the ASA (Graduate) Clinical
Internship Program
The Society's stated aims are to pursue and promote the knowledge
and practice of audiology in all its aspects to the advancement of science,
and the betterment of community services to the hearing impaired. It is, therefore,
commensurate with the basic aims of the Society that we welcome and encourage
employment opportunities in audiology that are primarily concerned with research,
development, and/or teaching aspects of the profession. However, it is also
commensurate with our stated aims that we encourage the highest standards of
patient care, i.e. that we provide evidence to the public and/or to employing
authorities that those audiologists offering clinical services directly to the
public are indeed considered by their professional peers to be fully qualified
to do so.
With ASA Statement of Purposes, Part B Rules (Paras. 5 (3) (a)
(i), (ii)), all such persons can be expected to fulfil all requirements for
Full membership of the Society. Thus, in addition to and separate from standards
prescribed for Full membership in the Society, a (Graduate) Clinical Internship
program is in operation. The Audiological Society of Australia's Certificate
of Clinical Practice is available upon application to any and all Full members
of the Society who can demonstrate appropriate professional preparation and
experience in the areas of clinical services.
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Item 2 Requirements for the
ASA Certificate of Clinical Practice
see also: Certificate
of Clinical Practice.
| a) |
Pre-requisites: Before the Certificate
is awarded, applicants must first be eligible for, and duly elected to,
Full membership of the Audiological Society of Australia (see Rule 5(3)
(i) (ii) and (iii)), with such election ratified by the payment of all necessary
dues. |
| b) |
Requirements of Intending-Applicants
for the Certificate of Clinical Practice:
| 1. |
Academic - The applicant
must have obtained at least the minimum academic qualifications required
for Full membership of the Society, i.e. as under the Rules, Para.
5 (3), and shall have worked after obtaining such qualifications for
the equivalent of one year full time as a Graduate Clinical Intern
under the supervision of an audiologist who is a Full member of the
Society and who holds its Certificate of Clinical Practice.
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| 2. |
Academic Clinical Practicum
- The applicant must have completed 200 clock hours of direct, supervised
clinical experience with a variety of individuals (both child and
adult) who present a variety of hearing disorders. This total cannot
include time spent in clinical observation, and must have been obtained
within the training institution, or in one of its co-operating programs.
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| 3. |
Supervised Clinical Experience
- The applicant must obtain the equivalent of twelve months of supervised
full time professional experience in which direct clinical work has
been accomplished, i.e. as under the sub-sections of Rule 5 (3), an
applicant for the Certificate of Clinical Practice is required to
have worked for the equivalent of one year as a (Graduate) Clinical
Intern. Under the (Graduate) Clinical Internship program, it will be
required that for those desiring to obtain a Certificate of Clinical
Practice, a minimum of twelve months or the equivalent of this required
professional experience must be in directly clinical areas of audiology,
and must be supervised as specified by the Society. This experience
must begin after completion of the academic clinical practicum experience
(requirements 1 and 2 above), and can be met by less than full time
employment over a longer period so long as the proposed program meets
all other ASA requirements and falls within guidelines detailed in
the application material. However, at this point of an applicant's
professional preparation, it is considered that this experience should
not entail less than fifteen hours per week. |
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| c) |
Requirements for Supervisors of (Graduate) Clinical Interns
| 1. |
All supervisors of clinical experience of (Graduate)
Clinical Interns must be holders of the Certificate of Clinical Practice.
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| 2. |
Supervisors must not accept any remuneration from
the clinical applicant. This does not preclude provision of travelling
expenses or of supervisory allowances by the employing authority,
where appropriate.
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| 3. |
Supervision of the intern must entail
the personal and direct involvement of the supervisor in any and all
ways that will permit him/her to attest to the adequacy of the intern's
performances in the clinical training experience. Knowledge of the
intern's clinical work may be obtained in a variety of ways such as
conferences, written reports, staff meetings, discussions with other
persons who have participated in the intern's clinical training, and
must include direct observation of the intern in clinical sessions.
Some of these requirements may be fulfilled by correspondence. However,
the supervisor's total evaluation must be based on an absolute minimum
of not less than four hours of direct on-site observation per month
to be carried out at least one per month during the period of supervision.
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| 4. |
Since the purpose of the (Graduate) Clinical Internship
program is to evaluate the clinical effectiveness of the intern, the
supervisor should provide opportunities for the intern to share his/her
ongoing evaluation, and to discuss with him/her any areas of deficiency,
and ways in which these areas may be made good.
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| 5. |
At the conclusion of the period of the (Graduate) Clinical
Internship, the supervisor will be required to submit to the Membership
Committee a signed report, certifying that to the best of his/her
knowledge and belief, the intern has (a) met both the spirit and the
letter of the ASA (Graduate) Clinical Internship program, and (b) has
in the opinion of the supervisor, reached a level of professional
preparation such that he/she may be expected to perform clinical services
in audiology competently, without supervision by persons with more
education and/or experience.
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Item 3 Procedures for Obtaining
the Certificate of Clinical Practice
see also: (G)CI Guidelines.
- Applications for Full membership in the Society and the initial
application for admission to (Graduate) Clinical Internship may be made simultaneously.
However, applications for admission to the GCI will not be evaluated until
such membership has been approved, and validated by the payment of dues, and
Membership Certificates will not be issued until Full membership has been
approved by the Executive.
- The applicant must submit a description of his professional
education and academic clinical practicum on forms provided for that purpose.
It should be noted that no credit can be allowed for courses listed on the
application unless satisfactory completion is verified by an official transcript,
i.e. the course must be listed as having received a passing grade as defined
by the training institution.
- Upon completion of educational and academic clinical practicum
training, the applicant should endeavour to obtain clinical employment, preferably
in a setting where a supervisor meeting the Society's requirements is available.
It is the responsibility of the applicant to obtain the agreement of an audiologist
who is a Full member of the Society and who holds its Certificate of Clinical
Practice to act as supervisor of his/her required initial professional clinical
experience according to the provisions of the Society's GCI program.
- Application for admission to the (G)CI program should be
made as soon as possible after completion of the applicant's educational requirements
and academic clinical practicum experience and, if possible, either before,
or shortly after, the commencement of supervised professional experience.
The applicant should also submit an outline plan of his/her proposed supervised
clinical experience requirement as soon as possible after commencing that
experience, in order that he/she can be notified that the Society's policies
governing supervision and evaluation will be met.
- Upon completion of all requirements of the (G)CI program,
the Certificate of Clinical Practice will be awarded to eligible applicants
so long as they are Full and financial members of the Society.
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Item 4 Expiry
of the Certificate of Clinical Practice
Under Rule 75 of the Society's Constitution, the Certificate
of Clinical Practice remains the property of the Society. It is thus subject
to recall/expiry in the following circumstances:
- When a member remains unfinancial without explanation after
reminder.
- When a member does not work in audiology for a period equivalent
to 3 months full-time or an average of 6 hour per week in the period of the
CPD Cycle
- When a member has not completed a satisfactory Continuing
Professional Development program audit.
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Item 5 Guarantees Express
or Implied
The Society considers that competence is a quality which cannot
be subject to guarantee. The Certificate of Clinical Practice therefore represents
acknowledgment that an individual has met specified academic and practical standards
considered necessary for competent clinical practice without supervision by
someone with more education and/or experience.
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