Profile of 1 year of fieldwork experiences for undergraduate occupational therapy students from a large regional Australian university.

Conclusions The placement profile of undergraduate occupational therapy students appeared to be consistent with workforce reports on occupational therapy professional practice.What is known about the topic? Fieldwork experienced by health professional students is critical to preparing new graduates for practice. Although the World Federation of Occupational Therapy provides guidance on what is required for occupational therapy fieldwork experience, little is known about what students actually experience during their fieldwork placements.What does this paper add? The present study is the first to document the range of fieldwork experienced by occupational therapy students in one program over 1 year, and provides the basis for comparison with other occupational therapy programs, as well as other disciplines nationally and internationally.What are the implications for practitioners? Occupational therapy students experienced few opportunities in private practice or speciality services, and had mostly one-on-one supervision. To provide a future workforce that is able to address the changing health system, it is vital that students are exposed to a range of fieldwork experiences and supervision styles that replicate the demands of future practice. PMID: 27809957 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Australian Health Review - Category: Hospital Management Authors: Tags: Aust Health Rev Source Type: research