Personnel and human resource management in the occupational therapy curriculum

Personnel and human resource management has emerged as a dynamic, vital, and important component of the management of any organization. Persons involved in management at all levels are responsible for organizing, directing, motivating, coordinating, and controlling the people under them in the organizational hierarchy. Health care professionals are almost always in a position requiring them to supervise some aspect of human resources. Graduates of the health professions often find themselves unprepared to meet the rigors of human resource management and are not cognizant of the body of information available to assist them in becoming proficient managers. This article outlines the development of a graduate course in human resource management for occupational therapists. The course was designed to recognize the unique background, experience and needs the health care professional brings to management while offering the student a strong base of information appropriate to the discipline of human resource management.