AOTA's Code of Ethics

The Code of Ethics Standards was meant to address the most common ethical concerns of the occupational therapy profession in multiple settings such as research, practice, and education. This document pertains to occupational therapist in multiple roles, guides behavior, and informs therapists of their impact on clients (AOTA, 2010).

The AOTA Code of Ethics only covers its voluntary members (AOTA, 2010).
For the full (2010) version click here. Greater detail of the Code of Ethics Reference Guide to the Occupational Therapy Code of Ethics and Ethics Standards can be purchased through AOTA .

American Occupational Therapy Asociation (2010). Occupational therapy code of ethics and ethics standards. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 64.

AOTA's Fieldwork Educators Certificate Workshop

Interested in advancing your skills, knowledge, supervision, and direction as a fieldwork educator?

By attending this 2-day training, you can earn 15 Contact Hours/1.5 AOTA CEUs!

Here’s what you can expect to gain:

• Deeper understanding of your role as a fieldwork educator
• Effective strategies to integrate learning theories and supervision models
• Increased skills to provide high-quality educational opportunities during fieldwork experiences
• Interaction with trainers through dialogue and reflections about fieldwork
• Engagement in 4 curricular modules: administration, education, supervision, and evaluation
• Analysis of strategies to support best practice in fieldwork education
• Continuing education credit (15 contact hours) toward licensure renewal

AOTA Members: $225
Nonmembers: $359

Available regional workshops change from time to time, so be sure to check online!

You can find more information by clicking here!

A few helpful hints for students!

Before Fieldwork:

• Ask your facility for more information (i.e., dress code, parking, lunch, common diagnoses, common treatments, etc.)
• Plan for all financial responsibilities (i.e., housing, food, travel)
• Complete all immunizations. This includes taking care of routine doctor/dental visits that are necessary. 
• Review your fieldwork manual 
• Save facility numbers in cell phone
 - just in case of an emergency.

*Once you start your fieldwork experience, save time by filling out your student evaluation forms early!!! You can start listing diagnoses, treatments, assessments, etc. 

AOTA's Guidelines for Supervision, Roles, and Responsibilities During the Delivery of Occupational Therapy Services

From personal experience, I was sent to my first Level I fieldwork experience without a clear understanding of expected roles and responsibilities of an occupational therapist and assistant. This made it difficult for me to comprehend the dynamic the therapy team shared.

It may be beneficial for students to read over this document before heading out to Level I fieldwork. It outlines important aspects of the roles and responsibilities of occupational therapists, assistants, and aides.

You can find more information here!

Reflective Journaling

We believe reflection following experiences has the potential to bring value and meaning to certain moments in our lives! Allowing ourselves the time to think back on experiences give us the learn from mistakes, reflect on high points of the experience, brainstorm different approaches, and so on!

"Reflective journaling is helpful for developing procedural reasoning, to understand the diagnosis and treatment techniques from the perspective of known categories or methodologies... Journaling as a tool to promote reflective learning helps students bridge the gaps between theory, academic knowledge, and practice, allowing them to analyze a situation, gain insights, and dialogue with educators... This article helps to illustrate a constructivist learning approach in which clinical reasoning skills are developed through reflective writing paired with discussion (Hanson, Larsen, & Nielsen, 2011)."




Hanson, D., Larsen, J., & Nielsen, S. (2011, April 25). Reflective writing in Level II fieldwork, A tool to promote clinical reasoning. OT Practice, 11-15. 

You can find this article in the OT Practice, April 25th 2011 Edition.

Assessments: Part 1, Personality Assessments

Different personalities, learning styles, and expectations for supervision will vary for each unique student. It is important that both the student and the educator are familiar with the approach that is most effective for a student. For example, if the student is a visual learner, it may be beneficial for the educator to demonstrate a treatment activity before allowing the student to take charge.

Below are resources for personality assessments (related to the Myers & Briggs Type Indicator):

• http://www.capt.org/take-mbti-assessment/mbti.htm
• http://www.16personalities.com/free-personality-test
• http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/jtypes2.asp#questionnaire

Assessments: Part 2, Learning Style Assessments

Different personalities, learning styles, and expectations for supervision will vary for each unique student. It is important that both the student and the educator are familiar with the approach that is most effective for a student. For example, if the student is a visual learner, it may be beneficial for the educator to demonstrate a treatment activity before allowing the student to take charge.

Below are resources for learning style assessments!

• http://www.educationplanner.org/students/self-assessments/learning-styles.shtml
• http://www.edutopia.org/multiple-intelligences-learning-styles-quiz
• http://www.odessa.edu/dept/govt/dille/brian/courses/1100orientation/learningstyleinventory_survey.pdf