The Supervised Work Placement (SWP) is a set of activities that the student must develop individually, as part of the academic program, in public or private institutions. Its aim is that students complement the knowledge they have acquired during their study period with a professional activity and that they can put into practice the competences inherent to the area of knowledge of their study program. The university gives the student two alternatives in order to pass the credits of the SWP:
- Recognition/acknowledgment of credits from previous work experience related to the studies.
- Doing the supervised work placement in an external institution.
The student has available all the information that may be needed during the internship, based on the following structure:
- Specific Information on the Program: detailing the schedule, tasks and responsibilities.
- Acknowledgment/Recognition of credits: the procedure to be followed and the requirements for submitting the application form.
- Documentation on the internship development: it details the internship stages and includes the documents needed to comply with the development of the SWP.
During the whole process, the student will be able to contact the Internship Department of your University.
1. MDEOS specific information
1.1 Tasks and Practice Centers
Supervised Work Placement (SWP) – also known as an Extracurricular Work Placement – is a mandatory activity required for obtaining the degree.
The Work Placement is organized with a criterion that enables the student to acquire experiences within an authentic workplace setting related to their field.
All competencies studied during the program may be employed during the Work Placement period. The focus on some or others will depend on the institution in which the student carries out their Work Placement. However, there is a set of competencies that all students must put into practice, regardless of where they work. The tasks associated with these common competencies are listed below, although performance during the Work Placement is not limited to them:
- Identifying the phases, documentation, and tools required for accomplishing a task.
- Searching for information in documents and reference materials for answering the pertinent questions and knowledge gaps detected during the professional practice.
- Planning and managing tasks effectively.
- Completing tasks on schedule.
- Solving problems related to professional practice with support from the necessary resources or the appropriate person within the institution.
- Finding the necessary information and documentation resources to carry out the assigned tasks.
- Discussing the decisions taken for solving the assigned tasks.
- Behaving in accordance with the social, organizational, and ethical standards of the company or institution and the profession.
- Self-evaluating one’s own professional performance.
- Reviewing the work done according to the instructions of the extracurricular work placement tutor to ensure that the final product reaches the required level of quality.
- Applying learning and adaptation skills toward the specific demands of the labor market and demonstrating knowledge in this context.
- Developing personal resources for: social and communication skills, professional skills, decision making, and self-regulation in learning.
The student could carry out their supervised work placement in any of the following centers or institutions:
- Hospital Centers.
- Primary Care Centers.
- Public or Private Sociosanitary Centers.
- Non-Governmental Organizations related to the health field.
- Among others.
1.2 Characteristics of the Supervised Work Placement program
The following are necessary to begin the supervised work placement:
- Have at least a 66% progress in the program.
- Submit all required documentation, both academic and administrative, to the Extracurricular Work Placement Coordination Office.
The total number of Supervised Work Placement hours will be: 150 hours, of which 120 hours will be face-to-face in the collaborating entity and 30 hours destined to writing the Supervised Work Placement Report.
It is possible to opt for recognition or validation of the Work Placement as a subject of the curriculum. The requirements, criteria, and documentation to be submitted can be consulted in the following section.
2. SWP recognition/validation
To apply for this program, the student must fulfill a series of requirements that vary according to the program. These requirements are related to:
- Tasks or skills specific to the corresponding field of work: described in the previous point “Specific information”.
- Minimum work experience: MDEOS students must accredit 3 months of full-time work experience in one of the following centers, organizations, or institutions, in jobs related to the program studied:
- Hospital Centers.
- Primary Care Centers.
- Public or Private Sociosanitary Centers.
- Non-Governmental Organizations related to the field of healthcare.
- Among others.
Work Placements may be recognized for professional experience if the position is directly related to the specified program competencies and tasks of the elective taken in the Master’s program and complies with the requirements described in this document.
In order to assess the recognition of the credits corresponding to the internship, the student must prove to meet the established criteria. The recognition is possible if the candidate presents a Credit Recognition Application for Working Experience. This document must find attached:
- Previous Working Experience Certificate, completed by the company or companies in which the student has carried out the professional experience that is susceptible of recognition.
- Work History.
The criteria described in the specific information of each program can serve as a guide and help to complete such document. The Previous Working Experience Certificate must be completed by the institution and meet the requirements below:
- Being filled in by computer.
- Including the requested information.
- Having the signature of the institution’s manager or, if that is not possible, of the HR Dept manager.
- Including the stamp of the institution.
Once the certificate has been completed, it must be submitted to the Internship International Department of the University or Universities that certify your program and offer the possibility of acknowledgment. Once the submitted documentation has been reviewed, the student will be notified if the internship acknowledgment process continues or if there has been any mistake or questions that need prior clarification.
When the submitted documentation is complete and correct, it will be analyzed whether the developed competences in the academic program and the ones developed during the work experience are equivalent or not, and therefore, if the acknowledgment of the internship can be granted.
Once this stage has been finished, the Internship International Department will notify the student if the resolution was favorable or not. As well, the final resolution will be reflected in the student’s academic record afterwards.
NOTE: The Universities reserve the right to ask for additional documentation, at any moment of the process, if they deem it necessary to continue the process of the internship acknowledgment.
3. Implementation of the SWP
3.1 Carrying out the Supervised Work Placement
Each university has work placement agreements with the institutions of their country. These institutions are at the student’s disposal. Nevertheless, considering the diverse locations and origins of students, it is possible for them to contact with an institution near to the student’s residence that meets all the criteria needed for the work placement. The university in which the student is enrolled, and the institution will have to sign a collaboration agreement as well as an annex so that the student is able to carry out the work placement in an institution that has been authorized by the university.
3.2 Structure and Organization
Supervised work placements are organized into the following stages:
3.2.1 Preliminary stage
If the student is unable to take advantage of the existing educational collaboration agreements between their university and various other institutions, then they, with help from the university’s Supervised Work Placement Coordination Department, must contact another institution to carry out their supervised work placement.
To establish a relationship with possible institutions that the student is interested in and carry out the work placement, the student may use the Letter/s of Introduction, on behalf of the university/s, whereby the institution is informed on the academic work placement and its characteristics, as well as the implications that their collaboration would have:
Once the student has come to an agreement with an institution for the development of the internship, the student should send to the Internship International Department of the University or Universities that certifies the studies, the application form of the internship institution
NOTE: In order to know what arethe universities that certify your program, consult the PANAL (Academic Record) When the International Internship Department has finished the review of all the documentation and once the approval of the internship institution is granted, the student will be notified in order to proceed with the signature of the collaboration agreement and its corresponding Appendix. If necessary, the collaboration agreement can be signed by the institution and the university. Moreover, depending on the country in which the student is to do the internship and the legislation in force in such territory, the student will have to submit the additional documentation required by the country’s legislation in force. Below, some details on the additional documentation required by some countries are specified:
3.2.1.1 Students enrolled in the European University of the Atlantic
| Students enrolled in the European University of the Atlantic | ||
| Students doing the internship in Spanish territory | Students of official degrees younger than 28 years old | The University’s school Insurance protects them, so they will not have to provide any additional documents. |
| Students of official degrees older than 28 years old | They should formalize an accident insurance in order to be able to do the internship. Proof of this insurance will be required by the university before beginning the internship. | |
| Students of any age enrolled in a university’s specific program: | They should formalize an accident insurance in order to be able to do the internship. Proof of this insurance will be required by the university before beginning the internship. | |
| Students doing the internship abroad | Students of any age and any degree: | They should formalize an accident insurance in case the legislation in force in the country in which the student is to do the internship. As well, students should comply with the legislation in force regarding doing an internship in the corresponding country. |
3.2.1.2 Students enrolled in the International Iberoamerican University (Puerto Rico)
| Students enrolled in the International Iberoamerican University (Puerto Rico) | ||
| Students doing the internship in Puerto Rican territory | All students |
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| Additional requirements for internships in Healthcare Centers |
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| Additional requirements for internships in Naturopathy Centers |
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| Students doing the internship abroad | All students | They should formalize an accident insurance in case the legislation in force in the country in which the student is to do the internship. As well, students should comply with the legislation in force regarding doing an internship in the corresponding country. |
3.2.1.3 Students enrolled in the International Iberomerican University (Mexico)
| Students enrolled in the International Iberomerican University (Mexico) | ||
| Students doing the internship in Puerto Rican territory | All students | There are no additional requirements. In case they are necessary, the student will be informed by the university or internship institution. |
| Students doing the internship abroad | All students | They should formalize an accident insurance in case the legislation in force in the country in which the student is to do the internship. As well, students should comply with the legislation in force regarding doing an internship in the corresponding country. |
NOTE: Universities reserve the right to modify the requirements according to the changes in the legislation in force that may occur. Once the Internship Department has registered the required documentation, the student can continue the internship process in the Institution.
3.2.2. Development stage
During this stage, the student must do the internship in the chosen institution. In most programs, the classroom-based hours in the collaborating institution are estimated to be 120 hours and some additional hours dedicated to the development of of the Internship’s Final Report. However, some programs include a different classroom-based number of hours. Review this information regarding your program in the section ‘Specific information on the program’. During this stage, the student makes the internship hours in the collaborating center, therefore complying with the regulations of the University and the Institution, hence, the structure and organization will depend on the area allocated for the development of the internship. The internship must be supervised and the student must have the support of an assigned tutor in the internship institution, who is the same person that should subsequently fill in an evaluation report. The internship schedule must have been previously specified with the institution. The schedule will be established taking into account the characteristics of the internship and the availability of the internship institution. Efforts will be made to ensure that they are compatible with the academic, training, representation and participation activity developed by the student at the University.
3.2.3. Internship evaluation
The final internship report is a document written by the student, which aims to systematize and reflect on the experience lived in the institution. The structure of the document should follow the Final Internship Report Template and must not exceed 25 pages length for all programs, except for the health area programs with case studies, for which the maximum length is 35 pages (longer final internship reports will not be accepted). The number of pages does not include bibliographical references or appendixes.
NOTE: Those final internship reports that include images or videos of minors must be accompanied by the consent of their parents/guardians
Once the classroom-based internship hours have been completed, the student must submit the final internship report within a maximum period of 15 days to the Internship International Department and the following documents duly completed:
- Final internship report
- Student’s internship evaluation report
- Evaluation report of the collaborating institution’s tutor
Then, the Internship Committee will proceed with the final evaluation basing on the following weighting:
- The Final Internship Report developed by the student: 70% of the final grade.
- The Evaluation Report of the Collaborative Institution’s Tutor: 30% of the final grade.
The final grade will be notified to the student through the Template of the university’s tutor report and will be registered in the student’s academic record within a maximum period of one month.
4. SWP’s Frequently Asked Questions
4.1. Where to start with the SWP
It is recommended that students read the specific information to their program, for they will find there the internship characteristics (tasks and responsibilities, hours, etc.) and the Cover Letters that Universities make available for them to ease the search for the internship’s institution.
Many programs consider the acknowledgment/recognition of the internship basing on the professional experience. In this case, in section 1.3 Recognition/Acknowledgment, included in 01. Specific Information on the program, you will find the minimum time required to be able to apply for recognition. And in the section “Recognition/Acknowledgment of the Internship” it is described how to carry out this process and the form which must be filled in by the company/s is included.
In the event that the student opts for the Internship Development, the student must continue reading the corresponding section and, with enough time, start the procedures for the signing of the Internship Agreement and its Appendix (signing is made by the Internship Institution, the University and the Student) to be able to do the internship in the required time.
4.2. What is the university or universities that certify my program?
The place to consult the university/ies or other data on the program is the PANAL.
4.3. If I have questions about the SWP, whom do I contact?
In the FAQ section you will find the most common doubts for many students. If you do not find the answer to your query, remember that any question relating to the Supervised Work Placement or to its management should be consulted with the International Internship Department of the University that certifies your program.
5. Contact
To resolve your doubts, concerns or to carry out the process of the Supervised Work Placement, you may contact through the following form: