Role Emerging Fieldwork
An essential component of the Occupational Therapy educational experience is practical experience through what is referred to as fieldwork. Traditionally, the fieldwork placement involves working at a facility with clients under the direct supervision of an occupational therapist who is employed at that facility. However, many community agencies that do not employ occupational therapists assist clients who could benefit from the services of an occupational therapist. The Role-Emerging Community Placement was designed to provide students with the novel opportunity of developing a role for occupational therapy at a community agency, thereby enhancing the services of the agency (Bossers,Cook,Polatajko,& Laine,1997). Students engaged in fieldwork education must receive supervision/education from qualified members of their own discipline. As the community agencies used for Role-Emerging placements do not employ occupational therapists, a qualified therapist is recruited to provide 3-5 hours of supervision/education per week for the duration of the placement. This occupational therapist is referred to as the fieldwork educator. A staff member of the community agency is also appointed to provide guidance to the student regarding the day to day operation of the agency and program development opportunities. This person is referred to as the on-site supervisor.
Role-Emerging placements are valued by the community agency, the student and
the fieldwork educator. The new perspective offered by both the student and
the student's fieldwork educator is appreciated by the agency personnel. Both
the programming the student offers during the placement and the materials the
student develops for ongoing use by organization staff leave a lasting impact
on the organization.
Fieldwork educators also benefit from participation in community placements.
The benefit is derived both from the additional challenges presented by supervising
a student who is working in a different location than the educator, and from
gaining an understanding of the work of the involved community agency.
As an outcome of a grant held by Occupational Therapy at The University of
Western Ontario, material to support the role-emerging fieldwork placement was
developed. A manual entitled A Resource Guide for Role-Emerging Community
Placements in Occupational Therapy by Bossers, Polatajko, Connor-Schisler
& Gage is an educational guide for faculty, students and supervising therapists
to use with role-emerging placements. The table of contents include establishing
role-emerging fieldwork, the roles and responsibilities of participants, participants'
interaction, strategies to facilitate adult learning, features of a successful
role-emerging placement, strategies to facilitate student reflectivity, lessons
learned, evaluation and exercises to foster reflection and clinical reasoning.
The guide was designed to provide information and strategies to participants
in the role-emerging placement. In addition, the exercises for reflection may
also enhance other role-established placements.
References:
Bossers, A.M., Cook, J.V., Polatajko, H.J., & Laine, C. (1997). Understanding
the role-emerging fieldwork placement: A qualitative inquiry. Canadian
Journal of Occupational Therapy, 64(2), 70-81.