[jamescw1234]

Around this September this course was getting a lot of buzz on Macinsiders, a lot of people were interested in taking it, but not a lot of people knew the details. This course explores the psychosocial impact of children in the hospital and their families. Topics we look at are the Child Life profession, family-centred care, child development, preparing children for procedures, the dying child, and how to work with children just to name a few. This course is unique as it is delivered online using Avenue to Learn. Only 20 people are admitted into the course a semester. You must write a letter to Allison Riggs, the instructor of the course explaining why you are interested in taking the course, talk about why it will benefit you academically and professionally and list any courses related to the 2HC3. People in a health sci program, soc sci program or working health professionals are given first priority. Five people who are not at McMaster are also admitted a semester, so if you are graduating and interested you can apply. We had students in different parts of Canada, the USA and in Australia.

The course is taught by Allison Riggs, she is a Child Life Specialist at SickKids, she makes herself available to you when needed. She holds office hours on Avenue via live chat in the evenings. She is really helpful when you have any questions or concerns regarding the course content.

Course Breakdown:
Discussions: 30%
Every week Allison will post a question on the Avenue discussion boards for the class to answer. You must answer the question and draw in concepts from the weekly readings. There are two textbooks (Meeting Children's Psychosocial Needs Across the Healthcare Continuum and Psychosocial Care of Children in Hospitals), custom courseware and online articles that Allison will post. You are put into groups of five and the group engages in online discussion about the weekly question/readings. Most weeks the discussions are worth 3%, although some are worth 2%, three times we had 1% discussion questions that we done in the form of a live chat with our small group. The first post must be done by Thursday or you will lose marks. As long as you put effort into your posts you will get full marks.

Assignments: 40%
There are two 4-6 page case studies in this course worth 20% each. You are to answer the questions relating to the case study. Both are about hospitalized children and implementing psychosocial care. Allison is a very particular marker so she will be looking to see specific articles from the course material you referenced. So make sure to read all the articles and figure out what ones are the most important.

Final Assignment: 30% (25% paper 5% therapeutic activity)
This assignment you are to choose a medical diagnosis and apply it to a family case study Allison provides. First you are to create a therapeutic play activity that will benefit the child. You explain the rationale for the activity and you post it on Avenue. Your small group will provide feedback in a live chat. The second part is the final paper. The paper is 8-10 pages long, you are to describe the diagnosis and its developmental impact, outline family characteristics and create a psychosocial care plan from any discipline (nursing, social work, child life, etc). This is an interesting assignment where you tie in everything you learn.

Overall this course is extremely interesting, but it is definitely not a bird course. There is a lot and I mean A LOT of reading. Be prepared to read/write about six hours a week for this course. I would however suggest this course to anyone wanting to work in a hospital or with children in any way.

I'm very interested in taking this course as my elective this upcoming year, though I have a couple of questions. Would I have to email Allison before I register for my courses on SOLAR or after? Also, if I do not get accepted into the course, would I have the option of registering for another elective at the same time I register for this one or would I have to choose from a remaining list of electives later? Thanks!

I signed up for my classes, tried to sign up for 2HC3 but saw 'full.' I registered for another elective just in case and I emailed her asking if seats are available, she then informed me about the letter of intent. She then I emailed me saying I got in and on SOLAR it went from 'full' to 'available.' Hope that helps!

Does this course run each term, or is it a full year course?

It runs each term, however in the summer the course takes up both terms, it doesn't get "crammed" in like other courses.

I took this course last term and loved it! The teacher was amazing and was always available to help. The only downside was the group posts every couple of weeks that had to be discussed with assigned group on chat live then forwarded to the teacher for marks, the coordination part was a bit harder to do with avenue acting up all the time. The readings were very interesting and the weekly discussions allowed every one to vocalized what they found most significant in the readings and help one another with the lessons. Its an easy course if you get the work done.

can 1st years take this?

Originally Posted by browneyedgirl

can 1st years take this?

Yes, these are the pre-requisites:
Prerequisite(s):
Registration in a program within the Faculty of Health Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences, health care professionals or with permission of the instructor.

However, I believe you need to get permission pretty early, so it may be too late.