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A
s part of our revised University of Alberta
MScOT curriculum, students complete a one-
week Introductory Fieldwork Placement during
the fall term of their first year, in addition to the 1000+
hours of clinical education that they complete later in the
program. The purpose of this early exposure to occupa-
tional therapy (OT) practice is three-fold:
1. Opportunity for students to witness and partici-
pate in real, live OT practice and confirm their interest in
our profession.
2. Opportunity for students to gain basic knowledge
about the OT role in a particular practice setting and create
a context for OT practice that can be built on during class-
room learning.
3. Opportunity for students to demonstrate profes-
sionalism, engagement and begin practicing their thera-
peutic use of self.
This placement is framed as one of the practical learn-
ing activities within our Year 1 (3 credit) academic course
entitled
OCCTH 503: Professionalism, Supervision & the In-
tentional Relationship
.
STUDENT EXPECTATIONS & EVALUATION
The following are the student expectations for the
In-
troductory Fieldwork Placement
:
Throughout the placement, students are expected
•
to be engaged, eager learners who demonstrate
basic time management skills and the ability to com-
municate appropriately with clients and colleagues.
At some point during the placement, students must
•
establish therapeutic rapport with at least one client.
By the end of the placement, students must articu-
•
late to their clinical educator what occupational
therapy is and explain the role for OT in that partic-
ular practice setting.
At the end of the placement, students are simply, but
formally, evaluated by their primary clinical educator using
the
Professional Behaviour Rubric
(©DalU) to note and ad-
dress with any concerns regarding performance manage-
ment, professional interactions & responsibilities,
communication, etc. Students are not evaluated as passing
or failing this practical learning activity and a grade is not
associated with their performance or clinical competence
during this placement.
ASSIGNMENTS
Students complete an
Introductory Fieldwork Place-
ment Reflection
, submitted one week after their place-
ment, worth 10% of their grade in OCCTH 503. Three
standard questions* guide their written reflection. The in-
tention of this assignment is to provoke students to delib-
erately and critically reflect on how their classroom
learning, up to that point in the MScOT program, applied
to what they witnessed and experienced in the clinical set-
ting.
Students also create and deliver a short presentation
(8 min) about their placement to their OCCTH 503 semi-
nar groups. Students are encouraged to share highlights
and honest impressions from their one week exposure ex-
perience. Many students use the questions from their writ-
ten reflection to structure their oral presentation. Seminar
groups are comprised of ~10 students so each student also
receives detailed information about ~9 other practice set-
tings regarding the perspectives and experiences of their
peers.
Informal feedback, gathered from fieldwork advisory
meetings, site visits and 1:1 consultation with key commu-
nity stakeholders, has indicated that the Alberta OT com-
munity is willing to support this introductory placement
and suggests that the length and positioning of the place-
AN EARLY EXPOSURE TO OT PRACTICE:
OUR UofA MScOT INTRODUCTORY
FIELDWORK PLACEMENT TAKES OFF
CORI SCHMITZ & JUTTA HINRICHS