Resource
Student Practice Education Core Orientation (SPECO)
Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH), First Nations Health Authority (FNHA), Fraser Health Authority (FHA), Interior Health Authority (IHA), Island Health Authority (VIHA), Northern Health Authority (NHA), Providence Health Care (PHC), and Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA) are committed to offering students quality practice education opportunities and have collaborated to develop the Student Practice Education Core Orientation (SPECO) for students and faculty accessing all British Columbia health authorities.
Getting started
Start with reviewing the SPECO Checklist which outlines the pre-requisites you need to complete.
Do I need to complete any additional requirements not listed in SPECO?
In addition to SPECO, you may be required to complete additional training for various clinical systems at VCH, depending on your discipline and location. Additional discipline-specific requirements are outlined here, and if you are unsure which ones apply to you, please contact your school placing coordinator.
Students will also be expected to follow the same appearance guidelines of our staff. More details on professional image, photo ID, and access cards can be found on the Student Practice Education page.
Please refer to the VCH Student Placement Process Worksheet For Students for complete step-by-step guidance on the prerequisites. This document is for your reference only and does not need to be submitted to the school.
SPECO checklist
SPECO (Student Practice Education Core Orientation) consists of the SPECO online curriculum and several other pre-requisites. For the full list of placement pre-requisites, please refer to the SPECO Checklist. This is a Word document you will need to save onto your computer. Please fill it in and send to your school once completed, along with supporting documents for the SPECO Curriculum, CRC, Immunizations, and COVID-19 module completion record prior to every VCH placement you are assigned to.
For additional reference, please use our SPECO Checklist completion guidelines – a supplementary document explaining different parts of the checklist – and the tabs below.
Non-clinical virtual students
Not all pre-requisites listed in SPECO may apply to non-clinical students who are completing their practicum fully virtually (e.g. via Zoom sessions with their preceptor). Please contact Placements@vch.ca prior to the placement start date for the complete list of pre-requisites and applicable paperwork.
SPECO online curriculum
Students and instructors entering a health authority for a practice education experience must complete the following. Practicum students returning to the health authority will need to enroll in the SPECO curriculum to complete any new or missing courses.
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Read the LearningHub Quick Reference User Guide.
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Login to LearningHub or sign up for an account using your school email address.
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Important: When creating a LearningHub account, students and instructors MUST use their school email address. Students should only have one account in the LearningHub and can submit a ticket to have their accounts merged. Login to the LearningHub, click on About - Contact Us at the bottom of the page below the Health Authority logos. From the Submit a Help Ticket category, choose the blue Learner Support button. When completing the form you can choose Account Merge / Link from the Learner Support Category drop down menu.
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Current VCH employees: If you already have an existing account as a VCH employee, you are to use this account, however please update the email to your school email. At the end of your school enrollment, you can change the email back. However, if this is not possible, please make sure your LearningHub account has your legal name and health authority email.
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Need help with your Learning Hub account? Please refer to the Account Merge and SPECO completion step-by-step instructions.
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Search for SPECO curriculum and click on the "Enroll in Curriculum" button. The required orientation courses to complete will be listed when you enroll in the SPECO curriculum.
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Current VCH employees: You need to complete/renew any missing modules that make up the student orientation. Please refer to the SPECO checklist to ensure all modules are completed before the placement start.
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The list of courses will have a "Start Course" or a check mark with "Completed" button to the right of each course. Each of the courses with a "Start Course" button need to be completed.
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Once completed, print your SPECO Curriculum certificate and submit to your school along with your completed and signed SPECO Checklist, and supporting documents for CRC and Immunization.
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Note: a seperate certificate for the curriculum is generated only when all the modules are complete.
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Violence prevention classroom training
Students and instructors will be notified by their placement units or preceptors if deemed to require the classroom training for their placement.
Confidentiality undertaking
As indicated in Section 3 of the SPECO checklist, you are required to read the VCH Information Privacy and Confidentiality Policy and agree to VCH Privacy and Confidentiality Undertaking for Student Practice on LearningHub before your first practicum placement. The recertification period is two (2) years.