In this section, you will find information that you will need to know in order to make a decision about what you want to do and where you want to go. Remember that the GOAL of the stage/placement is to create a learning opportunity through the exchange of shared knowledge for both the Applicant and the Host Centre. This section is divided into two parts:

• Information that is important for the Applicant and
• Information that is important for the Host Centre.

First, some terms of reference:

Applicant
The Applicant is the person making a request for a stage/placement in a palliative care centre or unit in another country.

Host Centre
Used to describe the palliative care centre or unit where a stage/placement may be undertaken with the specific goal to experience and learn about clinical and/or education and research practice.

Mentor
A locally based clinical colleague allocated to you during the period of the stage/placement with a specific responsibility to see that you meet your learning goals and objectives.

Contract/Agreement
This document aims to identify the key matters to be included in an agreement (or contract – we use the terms interchangeably) between the Host Centre, the Applicant and the Applicant’s Employer to ensure that the best possible opportunities are available to meet the respective needs of both the Host Centre and Applicant. Download here the document.

What are the specific responsibilities of the Applicant?

Formulate your learning objectives.

Before seeking a placement, it is important to consider what you wish to learn and how this new knowledge will benefit both you personally and your clinical service. A stage/placement will only work well if you can identify clear, achievable and measurable learning objectives which will form the basis of the visit. Depending on the duration of the placement you should have three-four clearly specified objectives which meet your learning needs and will contribute to the development of palliative care services when you return home. Without learning objectives, the value of the stage/placement is limited and leads to confusion and frustration on everyone’s part. You should send your learning objectives to the Host Centre before the start of the stage/placement so that everyone is in clear agreement about the nature and possibilities for learning. Your objectives, which should be based on your clinical, educational and research needs, will be dependent on your professional discipline and be determined by what the Host Centre can offer you.

To some extent, this may depend on your professional discipline. As a general rule, there are two types of stage/placement possible;

• An “observation placement” which is usually for a period of one-two weeks maximum. Costs may be involved

• a  “clinical practice placement”  which can be considerably longer, up to say six weeks and may require registration within the national professional registration system to enable you to take part in clinical care. Again, costs may be involved.

If you are seeking a “clinical practice placement”, remember that costs may be involved and that registration can take some time to organise. The Host Centre should be able to help you with this. Although it can be an additional cost and effort, the benefit in terms of learning far outweighs these issues.

We recommend that an observation stage/placement should not be any longer than two weeks as it can become tedious for both the Applicant and the Host Centre. It is extremely important that the Applicant understands which type of stage/placement they want to undertake and selects a Host Centre that can offer the most appropriate type of experience.

Budget

It is important to remember that the costs for a stage/placement are entirely the responsibility of the Applicant. It is difficult to offer an approximate figure because this will be dependent on the country of choice and the cost of living. Capital cities can be expensive and you should allow for travel costs, both to and within the country, and for the cost of accommodation and food. It is also important to identify if the Host Centre will charge for the stage/placement. Charges may be on a daily, weekly or monthly basis and may include hourly costs for people’s professional time. This should all be clarified before agreement on the placement is reached.

Formulating a Contract/Agreement
               
The details of the contract will by necessity reflect the laws and regulations of the host country. This may require some legal advice on wording that meets national rules and regulations.  For that reason, we do not offer a template to follow as such but rather make some recommendations regarding its content.

In brief, the Contract/Agreement is there to ensure that the best possible opportunities are available to the Applicant and that the Host Centre has a clear understanding of what is expected of them. Download here the document.

We would recommend that every Contract/Agreement should include the following:

• Agreement by the Applicant’s employer is imperative. The application should include a letter of support from the employer which shows evidence that the Applicant is sufficiently positioned within their palliative care organisation to benefit from the stage/placement and implement what they have learnt when they return home.

• Professional liability is important, even if you are on an “observation stage”. What happens to you in case of an accident in the workplace? Are you legally covered by the Host Centre or do you hold an indemnity from your own country that would cover you in the Host Centre (NB: this is not medical insurance in case of accident or ill-health. You need to hold medical insurance in your own right or if an European Union citizen, be able to avail of a mutual care agreement through the European Health Insurance Card -EHIC- system).

• The total costs should be evident in writing and agreed upon before the stage/placement takes place.

• The contract should specify what happens in the event of cancellation or failure to complete the stage/placement (i.e. if the Host Centre cancels your visit and you cannot reclaim the travel costs, will they repay you?)

• Both parties should sign the contract and hold a copy in case of difficulties arising.

Please note that the contract is an agreement between the Applicant and the Host Centre and the EAPC cannot take responsibility for disputes arising over contractual obligations.

Know the language!

The Applicant should have at least a working knowledge of the language of the country they wish to visit. It may well be possible to identify a Mentor (see below) who is able to converse in your language but the learning possible will most definitely be dependent on your ability to interact with colleagues. You should aim to be at least competent to hold a conversation and ask questions in the Host Centre language, albeit for socialising!

Build up your confidence before your placement by listening to radio and satellite television programmes in the target language if you have access to these. And read anything available in the language too. A document, Preparing for your European Stage/Placement, includes ideas on how to boost your language skills and background reading.

Mentorship

During your stage/placement a Mentor will be provided for you. Mentors are experienced health care professionals working in a specialist setting, in this instance, palliative care. The Mentor plays a key role in facilitating, encouraging you to achieve maximum learning from practice objectives.

More information on Mentorship see section two.

Disseminating outcomes of your stage/placement
Consider evaluating the wider impact of your stage/placement by sharing it with others both within and outside your own palliative care setting. 

• circulate a case study to colleagues in your place of work
• write a short report for your internal newsletter or website and/or submit a report, preferably with photographs, to the website of the EAPC,  Online newsletters and other publications such as the Palliative Care in Central and Eastern Europe and Former Soviet Union Countries Email Newsletter, Worldwide Hospice and Palliative Care Online and the Hospice Information Bulletin.

Next steps

If you are interested in applying to a Host Centre please click here. Look carefully at the information available on the Host Centres, complete the application form and then please forward it to the Centre of your choice and also to the EAPC head office at . All further contact should then be between you and the Host Centre (not the EAPC).  

We wish you good luck and great learning!

The EPSO team.