Development of a Framework for Assessing Organisational Psychology Postgraduate Students on Placement

A core component of postgraduate training in organisational psychology training are professional placements, during which students enhance their proficiency by applying skills and knowledge into practice. The Australian Psychology Accreditation Council (APAC) is the governing body for psychology programs in higher education in Australia, establishing mandatory standards, including ensuring appropriate assessment of students' placement experiences. Presently, the five universities offering postgraduate training in organisational psychology use different evaluation forms for placements, each placing varying emphasis on APAC standards. In 2021, the Organisational Psychology Placement Alliance was established by representatives from four of the five universities offering postgraduate organisational psychology training. The aim of the Alliance is to ensure professional best practice with standardised definitions, placement documents and templates. In 2023, the Alliance prioritised developing an entrustable professional activities (EPA) framework for the assessment and evaluation of postgraduate organisational psychology students on placement. While competencies describe the qualities of individual persons, EPAs outline the essential tasks of professional practice that can be delegated to a trainee once they demonstrate the necessary competence to perform the task independently and effectively (ten Cate et al., 2015 ). The concept was developed to operationalise competency-based postgraduate medical education (ten Cate, 2005), but is now more widely applied within health professional education (e.g., Mulder et al., 2010). Following an extensive review of the existing competencies expected of provisional psychologists stipulated by APAC, the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency, and the Psychology Board of Australia, the Alliance identified and articulated 12 EPAs. The aim of this study, therefore, is to refine and test the newly developed EPA framework for the assessment of organisational psychology postgraduate students on placement. This EPA framework is currently being established, refined and tested through two sequential processes: firstly, through online focus groups with representation from placement supervisors, relevant academics, and recent graduates , and secondly, through an online survey which will be distributed to all potential future placement assessors. Once developed, the EPA framework will inform a more rigorous and evidence-based placement evaluation method that can be used by Master of Organisational Psychology programs. The future use of this evaluation method will ensure postgraduate organisational psychology students are trained and assessed at a suitably high standard.