In various medical professions like nursing, medicine or psychology students write practicum reports to communicate the entire practicum experience. The practicum report will outline the student’s goal and objectives, explain the rationale behind the practicum, describe the environment of the practicum, record all activities and outcomes, and offer a self-assessment of the experience. Writing this report serves to help the student understand his or her strengths and weakness upon completion of the practicum. Formatting for report will require a title page, an outline and several other components, usually typed using double spacing. Combining professional experience and academic knowledge, the report needs to accurately articulate what the student has learned and identify future focus for either practice or research.
Creating a title page is the first step in writing the practicum report. Students will need to write a title that briefly captures the practicum experience. Their name needs to appear beneath the title along with the semester dates for filing of the practicum report. Additionally, the title page will include the college program of which students are attending.
Following the title page, the next page should include a description of the practicum experience. Brief in nature, the description will provide a summary of the practicum experience. Though there are no formal rules dictating the length of the description, conciseness is important.
The next page that follows is an introduction. This section should explain where the student partook of the practicum experience and name the supervising authority. As well, this part of the practicum report should reflect the goals of the experience and the duties required of the students during the practicum. A table of contents should immediately follow the introduction and clearly identify the following sections.
Expanding on the introduction, the next few pages should describe all activities the student undertook during the practicum experience as well as any observations the student noticed during completion of those activities. Furthermore, students will also explain the outcomes of those activities, both successful and unsuccessful. Authors of such reports will usually label this section “Activities and Outcomes.”
Rounding out the practicum report, the final section is usually a self-assessment. Explaining the value the student has taken away from the practicum is the objective of this section, in addition to reflecting on the goals outlined before beginning and comparing them to the final outcomes. Identifying areas for improvement, further study or research is part of this section. After completing this section, students will put together an appendix for the practicum report and attach any relevant documents related to the experience.
