Maymunah’s Story: Making the Most of Work Placements

Maymunah has recently graduated with a degree in Psychology from the University of Birmingham. During her degree, she completed a clinical placement within paediatric diabetes teams across two local hospitals. Maymunah has Coats Disease, causing her to have no functional vision or light perception in her right eye and very limited central vision in her left eye. Maymunah has shared story to help other blind and partially sighted students navigate work placements at university.

Preparing for Placement 

I had mixed feelings prior to being allocated a placement. I was really excited to gain exposure and experience that would help me grow in confidence and develop both personally and professionally. It was actually the placement element of the course that intrigued me the most and was the main reason I chose it!  

Like my peers, this would be a big transitional period and there would be additional considerations due to my vision impairment. It was important to clearly articulate my needs to ensure I could perform at my best. 

Before placement allocations, I had a meeting with my Programme Lead and Disability Advisor. Together, we discussed placement expectations and outlined reasonable adjustments in my support plan. This gave my placement supervisor my needs in writing before starting and gave me the chance to elaborate on them. 

Unlike some universities where students must find their own placements, mine allocated them. Since staff were aware of my vision impairment, they considered my needs whilst ranking placement options alongside my peers. I ranked placements according to my interests and also considered practicalities.  

I was really pleased to be placed in paediatric diabetes across two hospitals. To prepare, I initiated orientation visits to both, and one of my supervisors showed me key areas of the sites which was incredibly insightful. Allowing me to understand the typical environment and highlighted additional support I hadn’t initially anticipated. While it took longer to arrange everything, this careful preparation allowed me to focus on the experience rather than worrying about accessibility. 

Maymunah said:

“There’s so much I gained from my placement that studying alone could never have taught me. I had the chance to apply psychological theories and concepts and see them in action. This deepened my understanding of how they’re used in real-world settings to support others”. 

Informing Placement Staff of My Vision Impairment

My placement supervisors were made aware of my vision impairment through the university and my support plan. I also met with my main placement supervisor online before starting, which I appreciated. 

I wanted to be open about my vision impairment, not only for my benefit but for placement staff to feel ease and understand my needs. To do this, I created a placement profile: a document introducing myself, explaining “What I Can See” with examples, and summarising support I would need during placement. Sharing the document with both hospital teams and my support worker broke the ice and received really positive feedback! 

Top Tip!

Want to know what a placement profile can look like? Find out how Maymunah structured her placement profile with this handytemplate!

Reasonable Adjustments to Consider

• Larger desk space whenever possible, 

• A support worker to help navigate busy settings, take notes when needed and access visual elements of work 

• A designated laptop with assistive software for accessing clinical databases securely. 

• Supervisors being mindful of workloads, recognising the extra time and energy to complete tasks.  

• Pre-placement visits to orient myself around the sites.  

Maymunah felt that:

“The process of putting adjustments in place did take longer than expected, and as a result, my placement start date was delayed. Of course, I was disappointed. I just wanted to get started at the same time as my peers. However, on reflection although it would have been better for both myself, and my placement supervisors if the process had been quicker and smoother, it was far better to have everything properly arranged so that, once I began, I could focus on the experience rather than worrying about accessing it”.  

Top 5 Questions to Ask Before Starting 

• What does a typical day look like and what will my responsibilities be? 

• Which areas of the site will I need to be familiar with and how do I arrange a visit? 

• Who is my main point of contact throughout my placement?  

• I require assistive technology and reasonable adjustments, what is the process to get these in place?  

• What is the process if I need additional adjustments or support during placement? 

Maymunah believes that:

“Successfully completing my placement has put me in great stead and served as a valuable stepping stone as I begin to navigate the world of work”. 

If you want to find out more about completing your work placement at university, check out ouruseful guide.Want to share your own story? Get involved as aStudent Voice or Young Voicevolunteer. For further support with getting adjustments in place before or during your placement, get in touch with ourEducation Information Advice and Guidance Serviceon EducationAdvice@pocklington.org.uk