A practice placement design facilitating occupational therapy students’ learning

Abstract

If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. Ingunn Myraunet is an Occupational Therapist, based at Diakonhjemmet Hospital, Oslo, Norway. AbstractPurpose -The purpose of this paper is to describe an addition to the practice placement design for occupational therapy students in Oslo, and to report on the learning experiences related to this modified practice placement design among the participants. Design/methodology/approach -Occupational therapy students and practice educators were interviewed in focus groups after having participated in an exploration of the utility of the Assessment of Communication and Interaction Skills during mental health placement. Thematic analysis was applied to the data material.Findings -Four themes emerged relating to the students' learning experiences during practice placement. They were theory-practice integration; the role of supervision; self-awareness of communication; and socialization to the therapist role.Practical implications -The practice placement design addition presented in this paper was well received by students and practice educators. It contributed to students' focussed experience and to their active participation within a community of practice. The program appears to be one way of organizing placement with a potential for making a substantial contribution to occupational therapy students' learning.Originality/value -The study adds to the existing literature in providing an example of a successful addition to the practice placement design, and in the detailed account of the learning experiences among the participants.

Development of professional identity and professional socialisation in allied health students: A scoping review

“…Few studies (21, 21.9%) used a quantitative research design, and missing information such as study design or sample size was recorded as "not known". In particular, some authors only stated whether the study was quantitative or qualitative and the method of data collection (Bartlett et al, 2009;Bonsaksen et al, 2013;Brown et al, 2001;Collins et al, 2011;Furze et al, 2011;Hantman & Ben-Oz, 2014;Johnson & Chauvin, 2016;Noble, Coombes, Nissen et al, 2015;Noble, O'Brien et al, 2014;Roche & Coote, 2008;Santasier & Plack, 2007;Taylor & Harding, 2007;Turpin et al, 2013;Whitcombe, 2013). The most frequent student professions were social work (26, 27.0%), occupational therapy (23, 23.9%) and physiotherapy (19, 19.8%).…”

Community-Working Occupational Therapists Serving as Fieldwork Supervisors: Characteristics and Associated Factors

“…However, for the multivariate analysis (see below) these were transformed into ordinal level variables. Age was transformed into age groups of: ≤ 30 years 1, 31-40 years 2, 41-50 years 3, 51-60 years 4, and ≥ 61 years (5). Work experience was transformed into groups with experience of: ≤ 5 years (1), 6-10 years 2, 11-15 years 3, 16-20 years 4, 21-25 years 5, 26-30 years (6), and ≥ 31 years (7).…”

“…Although the number of required fieldwork hours in the curriculum has lately been questioned (Thomas & Penman, 2018), the general purpose of fieldwork education is to develop students' competence by providing them with opportunities to learn from their supervisors' practice and reasoning, from their own experiences with practicing as a therapist, and from the experiences of the clients with whom they work (Lawson-Porter, 2014). It is important to note that the fieldwork experience is one where the students are facilitated in their integration to the profession's theoretical knowledge and its practice (Bonsaksen, Granå, Celo, Ellingham, & Myraunet, 2013;Lawson-Porter, 2014).…”

“…In addition, potential supervisors are likely to consider the pros and cons before eventually accepting an invitation to supervise a student during his or her fieldwork. For example, incentives for engaging in the role may be related to upholding professional values, seeing opportunities for one's own continued professional development, co-learning with students, recruitment of future employees, and taking pride in providing good learning experiences for students (Bonsaksen et al, 2013;Hanson, 2011). However, previous negative experiences with students who have lacked foundational communication, problem-solving, and clinical skills may increase skepticism with regard to taking on the supervisor role (Hanson, 2011), perhaps, in part, owing to the increased risk of having to fail the student (Nicola-Richmond, Butterworth, & Hitch, 2017).…”

Student Perceptions of Growth-Facilitating and Growth-Constraining Factors of Practice Placements: A Comparison between Japanese and United Kingdom Occupational Therapy Students

“…In recent decades, practice placement has changed from the traditional apprenticeship model of being in charge of clients for the duration of practice placement under the guidance of supervisors to one wherein a partnership is created between students and clinical supervisors [2, 3]. Practice placements are no longer seen as opportunities for students to practice occupational therapy skills learned from their supervisors, but more as collaborative learning between students and supervisors to nurture future colleagues who can work in a range of practice areas.…”