Clinical Experience

Fieldwork experiences are an invaluable component of occupational therapy programs. Students learn how to apply occupational therapy methodology and problem-solving skills developed through their coursework on populations in various settings.  Fieldwork provides students with clinical opportunities to practice skills and professional reasoning, evaluate career interests, and make the important transition from learning to practice.

Level I Fieldwork combines classroom learning with practical experience in the field of occupational therapy. Experiential learning is important and provides students with the opportunity to translate learning into practice under the supervision of a licensed clinician. In Level I Fieldwork, students have the opportunity to work with individuals from an array of age groups, with a variety of physical, cognitive, and psychosocial conditions and in a variety of practice settings. Level I fieldwork is scheduled over the course of an academic semester and is completed in tandem with didactic work. These clinical and community placements provide opportunities for structured interaction with clients under the guidance of a practicing professional.

Level II fieldwork occurs after completing didactic coursework and consists of two full-time placements. MSOT and OTD students are immersed for twelve weeks, while the OTA student Level II experience spans for eight weeks. Students partake in experiential learning under the supervision of a licensed clinician in traditional and/or emerging settings, consistent with the program’s curricular design. During their experience, students deliver occupational therapy services to clients with occupational performance deficits while developing evaluation and intervention skills. In addition to hands-on skills, Level II fieldwork supports the student’s development of skills, attitudes, values, and professionalism that enable safe, ethical, occupation-based practice and preparation for entry into the profession as an occupational therapy practitioner. Upon completion of both placements, the student is expected to function as an entry-level therapist, responsible for the design and implementation of therapy services while carrying a full caseload of clients.

Fieldwork is completed in a variety of settings with many different populations and diagnoses. Some experiences you may encounter during your Fieldwork could include:

• Working with a premature baby in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) to address the development of oral-motor skills, positioning, sensory stimulation, and family/caregiver training.
• Seeing a preschooler with cerebral palsy in her home to work on developing independence with dressing and eating and to provide adaptive equipment and positioning techniques so she can eat at the dinner table with her family.
• Seeing a school-age child with a developmental delay in his school for handwriting, gross and fine motor skills, play and school skills, and environmental adaptation so that he can better participate in school activities and with his peers.
• Working with a teenage girl with a learning disorder in a community center for self-esteem, social skills, and communication so that she can be a more social adolescent.
• Seeing a construction worker injured on the job in an outpatient setting for strength, range of motion, and work environment adaptations, so he can return to his job.
• Working in a hospital with an older adult who had a stroke to work on regaining independence and roles, community mobility, and home modification so that she can return home.
• Seeing a terminally ill cancer patient in his home to address quality of life issues.
• Facilitating refugee resettlement by improving community mobility and transportation, developing work and job-seeking skills, and reducing the effects of prolonged occupational deprivation.