Play, participation, and partnership: An interdisciplinary summer camp

Occupational therapy academic programs prepare students with critical competencies, including professional reasoning, applying group activity-based and occupation-based interventions, and analyzing sociocultural factors, to become entry-level practitioners (Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education [ACOTE®], 2023). Service-learning experiences can be instrumental in preparing students for professional practice through the Experiential Learning Cycle by facilitating student growth in integrating action, reflection, experience, and conceptualization (Kolb & Kolb, 2017). Community partnerships with occupational therapy programs provide beneficial experiences for the community partner and the students. In this article, we describe the collaboration between the University of the Incarnate Word (UIW) and Children’s Rehabilitation Institute TeletonUSA (CRIT) to support a community summer camp—part of a Buddy Program—that provides an opportunity for students working toward their clinical doctorate degree in occupational therapy (OTD) to plan group activities for social participation at a weeklong Buddy Camp.