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The influence of environment on the fieldwork experience: exploring interprofessional student perspectives
1Department of Occupational Therapy, Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada. susan.mulholland@ualberta.ca
Objective:
To determine the impact and importance of the physical, social and institutional environments on the outcome of their first fieldwork experience from the perspectives of occupational therapy (OT) and physical therapy (PT) students.
Participants:
Eighty two percent (n=84) of OT and 65% (n=51) of PT students completed the survey. The majority of students were female, aged 20-25 years, and supervised using a one student to one educator supervision model.
Methods:
A paper survey was mailed to all OT and PT students during their junior fieldwork placement. Demographic, nominal score data and responses to closed-ended questions generated descriptive statistics. Qualitative data resulting from the open-ended questions underwent content analysis.
Results:
OT and PT students' fieldwork experiences and perceptions of their environment were remarkably similar, however, OT students indicated the physical environment (e.g., having a desk, access to a computer) and orientation (e.g., having a tour) were more important to their impressions of the placement as positive.
Conclusions:
By knowing how the environment impacts the fieldwork experience for students, stakeholders involved in the fieldwork process are in a better position to identify and be proactive in making changes to improve placement quality.
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