Addressing the process of fieldwork preparedness

Preparation for Level II fieldwork is a critical component of occupational therapy education, providing students with vital opportunities to promote clinical reasoning and manual techniques (American Occupational Therapy Association, 2013). Although occupational therapy programs provide students with the knowledge and skills for fieldwork success, students may not feel confident or fully prepared to meet the challenges associated with transitioning from classroom- to clinical-based performance (Bergstresser-Simpson et al., 2023; Snyder, 2018). This need was discussed at a Pi Theta Epsilon (PTE) meeting, which included third-year students who had completed their Level II fieldwork rotations and second-year students who would begin Level II fieldwork rotations the following term. PTE is an honor society for occupational therapy students that recognizes scholastic excellence, contributes to the advancement of occupational therapy, and promotes collaboration in scholarly activities (American Occupational Therapy Foundation, 2023). As a result of these discussions, the third-year students proposed hosting an event to provide the second-year students with a pre-fieldwork Skills Day—a day of hands-on skills review as an additional opportunity to prepare for their upcoming fieldwork rotations.