OT Graduate Students’ Perceived Preparedness for Level II Fieldwork: Traditional, Nontraditional and Mixed Fieldwork I Experiences

Abstract

This study explored the perceived level of preparedness of occupational therapy (OT) graduate students for entering Level II fieldwork after completing nontraditional, traditional, and mixed Level I fieldwork experiences. This mixed-methods exploratory study included an online 22-question survey that was delivered to Occupational Therapy Doctoral (OTD) and Master of Occupational Therapy (MOT) programs throughout the United States. Participants were selected through voluntary convenience response sampling. Students (N=145) self-reported their level of preparedness for Level II fieldwork experiences. The quantitative data collected in this study reflected a statistically significant difference between Level I fieldwork experience-related questions for the three groups, including traditional, nontraditional, and mixed traditional and nontraditional fieldwork experiences. More specifically, students that took traditional fieldwork experiences felt that traditional fieldwork positively contributed to their preparedness for Level II fieldwork compared to those who took nontraditional fieldwork or a mix of traditional and nontraditional fieldwork. The qualitative data, analyzed through thematic analysis, indicated that students felt a combination of nontraditional and traditional fieldwork provided the most significant benefit from Level I fieldwork experiences. Results suggest that most OT students preferred either a combination of nontraditional Level I fieldwork and traditional Level I fieldwork or solely traditional Level I fieldwork for increasing their perceived preparedness prior to starting Level II fieldwork. This study has implications for OTD and MOT fieldwork curriculum development and implications for addressing the needs of OT students to feel better prepared for Level II fieldwork.

Keywords

• fieldwork
• occupational therapy
• preparedness
• simulation