Project placements for undergraduate occupational therapy students: design, implementation and evaluation

This study aimed to document the process undertaken to incorporate project placements as an effective fieldwork option for second- and third-year occupational therapy students, by evaluating the experience of both students and supervisors and identifying areas for improvement. Project placements are full- or part-time placements where a project is completed by a student under the supervision of an occupational therapist. The study is primarily descriptive, and includes a pre-post design using qualitative and quantitative data. The results indicate that the objectives of the study were achieved. Both supervisors and students expressed positive views about the placements. Students also identified changes that could improve the placements. Second- and third-year students gave similar ratings about aspects of the learning experiences during the project placements. The small cohort of third-year students and the low response rate from supervisors limited results. These project placements have shown an applicable model for students in earlier years of the course instead of the usual practice of non-traditional fieldwork being focused on final-year students. The project placements described are presented as one more potential fieldwork model in the range currently offered by curricula worldwide. Future research needs to concentrate on the longitudinal impact of these placements on the developing practice and attitudes of occupational therapy students.