The purpose of fieldwork education is to propel each generation of occupational therapy practitioners from the role of student to that of practitioner. Through the fieldwork experience, future practitioners achieve competence in applying the occupational therapy process and using evidence-based interventions to meet the occupational needs of a diverse client population. Fieldwork assignments may occur in a variety of practice settings, including medical, educational, and community-based programs. Moreover, fieldwork placements also present the opportunity to introduce occupational therapy services to new and emerging practice environments. Fieldwork assignments constitute an integral part of the occupational therapy and occupational therapy assistant education curricula. Through fieldwork, students learn to apply theoretical and scientific principles learned from their academic programs to address actual client needs within the context of authentic practice environments. While on fieldwork, each student develops competency to ascertain client occupational performance needs to identify supports or barriers affecting health and participation and document interventions provided. Fieldwork also provides opportunities for the student to develop advocacy, leadership, and managerial skills in a variety of practice settings. Finally, the student develops a professional identity as an occupational therapy practitioner, aligning his or her professional judgments and decisions with the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) Standards of Practice (AOTA, 2005b) and the Occupational Therapy Code of Ethics (AOTA, 2005a).

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