Steps to Opening a Student-Run Pro Bono OT Clinic at Your School

Jessica Gaffney, Gannon University

A student-run pro bono occupational therapy clinic is a win-win for students and for the local community. Clients in need of occupational therapy services may not have insurance to cover therapy or may not have access to another clinic. A pro-bono clinic can give them the opportunity to be evaluated and potentially receive occupational therapy services that can improve their function in everyday activities. Occupational therapy students in your program can also benefit by learning to conduct face-to-face evaluations, provide hands-on treatment, document services based on real sessions, and discharge clients using clinical reasoning, all under the supervision of licensed occupational therapy practitioners.

Playing with shaving cream to work on pre-handwriting skills during a therapy session at Little Nights Occupational Therapy Clinic at Gannon University.

At my own school, Gannon University, I helped to start our pediatric student-run pro bono clinic. I and four other board members, with the help of our three clinic advisors, followed a series of steps to turn our idea into a successful reality. Here are steps you can take to start a clinic like this at your school:

1. Conduct a needs assessment of the region. What kind of occupational therapy services does your local community need? Maybe there are lengthy waiting lists at outpatient pediatric clinics in the area, maybe the nearest psychiatric occupational therapy clinic is 50 miles away, or perhaps adults do not have access to the necessary amount of outpatient rehabilitation following an injury or illness. After you find the need in your community, you will determine your clientele and the requirements for individuals to qualify for services at your clinic.
2. Create a proposal. What should your proposal entail? Your proposal should capture the full plan for the start-up and operation of your clinic. It should include your goals and mission for the clinic, how it will meet the needs of the community and school, how the clinic will be run and by whom, who will supervise the clinic, the clinic’s location, necessary supplies and plans to get those supplies, when the clinic will be open, and plans for sustainability of the clinic.
3. Get necessary approvals. Who needs to approve your clinic? This could include the dean, your program chair, individuals who operate the space you will be using, and more, depending on your specific goals and location.
4. Fundraise and apply for grants. The next biggest question after a needs assessment might be where to find funding for a student-run pro bono occupational therapy clinic. The first step is to search for grants offered in your state or region for the type of program you are hoping to create. Next, see if your school has any funding or grants available to provide assistance with developing your clinic. Then, seek out an individual or department at your school who has experience with grant searches and applications, to ask for assistance during this process.
5. Secure a location. What type of space is required for a student-run pro bono occupational therapy clinic? Your location does not have to be big and fancy. Think about the small spaces that are sometimes used for clinics in schools or outpatient centers, such as a cleaned-out storage closet or an area on an unused stage. Be creative when thinking about available space on your campus (or even off campus). Are there labs that are not used on the days and times your clinic will be open? Perhaps there is an open space in your school’s recreation center or gym. Talk to other health care programs to see if they have any clinic space they don’t use, or space that that could be shared.
6. Find faculty advisors. Who will be the main advisors for the clinic? Most likely the faculty advisors will be the professor/s who helped create your proposal and plan with you. Determine the number of advisors you feel is most appropriate for your clinic goals, and seek out faculty who are excited and eager to make your clinic a reality. Most likely, these advisors will be the same individuals who will serve as your licensed occupational therapists to provide supervision to students in the clinic. Be sure these individuals are able to provide supervision when necessary, or you can also find other therapists who are willing to supervise the clinic but may not be involved in running the clinic.
7. Develop a student board. How will other students be involved? A clinic board, which will help make decisions about how to run your clinic, should include a few students who are chosen by an application and/or interview process—or maybe you are one of them if you helped to create this clinic! Choose people who are organized, committed, ambitious, excellent time managers, and who are passionate about the mission of the clinic. Some positions your student board could include are Student Lead, Clinic Space/Supply Coordinator, Marketing Officer, Scheduling Manager, and Finance Officer.
8. Get donations—supplies and/or monetary. What are some other sources to generate revenue? Consider advertising for donations with flyers around campus and the community or through your school/program’s social media pages. You can also reach out to your school’s Student Occupational Therapy Association or Pi Theta Epsilon chapter to see if they are willing to offer a service or fundraising credit to its members who donate supplies or a small amount of money. You can also ask them if they have any funds available for a monetary donation. 
9. Create policies and procedures. What should be included in a student-run pro bono occupational therapy clinic handbook? Once you have a student board, the board members can create a handbook for the clinic. The handbook should outline the clinic’s purpose, mission, vision, goals, student clinician procedures and expectations, client paperwork, HIPAA paperwork, ethical guidelines, emergency procedures, universal precautions, intake forms, and any other policies. Be sure to have your faculty advisors, or another liscenced therapist review the document to be sure everything is accurate and thorough.
10. Spread the word. How do you advertise the clinic? Start by marketing your services! With the help of your marketing officer, and possibly the marketing department at your school, create flyers that capture your clinic’s mission. Distribute them around campus and the community. You can drop them off at family medicine practices, schools, day care centers, hospitals, pediatrician offices, or anywhere else that might refer individuals needing occupational therapy who fit your clientele requirement. You can even directly contact physicians to let them know about the clinic and how they can refer their clients to you. Also inform students about your program to start recruiting student clinicians.
11. Create a scheduling system. How do you schedule treatments? To organize the schedule for your clinic you will need to determine the hours of operation, how many clients can be seen at once, how many students will treat at one time, and who will provide supervision to the students. If you have more student clinicians than clients (or time and space available for clients) you can use treatment clusters and allow two students to treat one client together, with one student at a time as the lead student. You can also use rotations of treatment clusters, meaning one pair of students could treat a client for 4 to 6 weeks, and then another pair could cycle in to treat that same client. Allowing student clinicians to observe other students treating is also a good way to get more students involved. To create and maintain your schedule, you can use an existing online scheduling system or create your own using a spreadsheet that you share with everyone.
12. Schedule your clients/student clinicians and start treating. Once you have all these components in place, it’s time to add your clients to the schedule and open your clinic. Do not forget to have fun and learn a lot!

Follow these steps, and with some time and ambition your dream of a pro-bono clinic at your school can be a reality. Good luck!

Jessica Gaffney is a graduate occupational therapy student at Gannon University in Erie, PA, who is currently completing her Level 2 fieldwork. Jessica has spent her time at Gannon serving as the Office Scheduling Manager for the Little Knights Pediatric Occupational Therapy Pro Bono Clinic, as the Service Chair and Treasurer of the Student Occupational Therapy Association, and as a member of the Assembly of Student Delegates. An avid crafter, dreamer, and advocate for occupational therapy, Jessica has many goals to bring creative solutions to the pediatric population and to the occupational therapy profession.