In rural and remote areas, workforce shortages are impacting service delivery and one solution to this is to encourage more students into speech pathology and allied health professions. While programs often focus on the student experience and developing placement opportunities, it is important to also consider the needs and capacity of clinical supervisors and their practice models, as without them, there are no rural and remote student placements.
In this research project we investigated the current profile of speech pathologists (SP) and allied health professionals (AHP) working in the Midwest and Gascoyne areas of Western Australia and explored their perspectives on what they feel is needed to enable them to support students, including suggestions for their own training needs.
We used a mixed methods approach with an online survey sent to all AHPs working in the region.  The survey was adapted from a previously validated survey to reflect our multi-disciplinary study population in a regional and remote setting.
We will present the results of our survey showing the profile of AHP currently supervising students, including breakdowns specifically related to SP and outline their experiences and perspectives.
We will discuss how the survey results will be used develop placement models and clinical supervisor supports and education to meet the needs of this rural and remote area. Results from this research project may be applicable to other rural areas to assist in increasing quantity and quality of rural speech pathology and allied health student clinical placements.

1. What are the current perspectives and experiences of SP / AHP regarding clinical supervision.
2. What factors influence AHPs decision to be involved in student clinical supervision.
3. What support and training do SPs and AHPs in the region need.