AOTA's Occupational Therapy Student's Fieldwork Experience

The Occupational Therapy Student’s Fieldwork Experience

Through the fieldwork experience, students learn to apply theoretical and scientific principles learned in the didactic portion of the academic program to address actual client needs and develop a professional identity as an occupational therapy practitioner within an interdisciplinary context.

The fieldwork educator should structure opportunities for informal and formal reflection with the student regarding the OT process in action with the client population.

The OT students should have the opportunity to develop increased knowledge, attitudes, and skills in advocacy, administration, management and scholarship. Skills in administration and management may be attained through the actual supervision of support staff, volunteers, or Level I Fieldwork students in certain tasks or work assignments and involvement in administrative/staff/team meetings.

Scholarship may be enhanced as students learn to use evidence to inform their professional decision making and to generate new evidence through independent or collaborative research at the fieldwork site. This may be accomplished through investigation of the effectiveness of an intervention, the reliability, validity or utility of assessment tools, and publication or presentation of scholarly work. Inter-professional practice competencies should be encouraged throughout the fieldwork experience through engagement of OT and OTA students in interactive learning with students of different professions.

Outcomes Desired

The fieldwork placements should provide the student with experience with various groups across the life span, persons with various psychosocial and physical performance challenges, and various service delivery models reflective of current practice in the profession.

Expectations of Occupational Therapy Fieldwork Students

Students are responsible for compliance with site requirements as specified in the fieldwork site student handbook developed by the fieldwork site and the affiliation agreement between the fieldwork site and the academic program. This typically includes completion of prerequisite requirements (health requirements, background checks, HIPAA training, orientation to site documentation system, etc.) and attention to state regulations impacting student provision of client services. In addition to providing the required occupational therapy services to clients, students are also responsible for active participation in the supervision process, which includes the creation, review, and completion of learning objectives; completion of assigned learning activities and assignments; proactive and ongoing communication with the assigned fieldwork educator; continual self-assessment and reflection; and participation in formal and informal assessments directed by the fieldwork educator. By the end of the fieldwork experience, the student should demonstrate the attitudes and skills of an entry-level practitioner, including assumption of responsibility for independent learning.

This information was taken from the AOTA website, found here!