Occupational therapy students' experiences of role-emerging placements and their influence on professional practice

Changes in health and social care present exciting opportunities for occupational therapists to expand their practice into innovative settings. To prepare graduates for these opportunities, placement experiences must reflect current trends in practice. Role-emerging placements are increasingly being used to help students develop the skills, knowledge and attributes needed to become the therapists of tomorrow. Whilst the literature on role-emerging placements is increasing, studies have tended to be general placement evaluations, with limited studies exploring students’ experiences in detail. No studies have explored the influence of role-emerging placements on graduates’ professional practice and identity.

This study adopted a phenomenological design to gain a deeper understanding of how occupational therapy students experience and ascribe meaning to role-emerging placements and the ways in which such placements influence their professional practice and identity once qualified. In-depth initial interviews were carried out with five MSc pre-registration occupational therapy students within one month of having undertaken a role-emerging placement. Follow-up interviews were carried out six months after the students had graduated and gained employment. Interviews were audio taped, transcribed and analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA).

Project timeframe

The project ran from 2006 to 2012.

Project aims

The project aims were:-

to develop an understanding of how students experience and ascribe meaning to occupational therapy placements in role-emerging settings.
to understand the uniqueness, commonalities and divergences of student experiences of role-emerging placements.
to consider in what ways (if any) role-emerging placements influence an occupational therapist’s professional practice and development.
to consider possible implications for practice, education and future research, based on the findings.

In furtherance of these aims, it was anticipated that an understanding of how role-emerging placements are experienced by students and the influence that they have on future practice would enable consideration by the profession of how such placements may or may not assist in the preparation of students for practice. It was considered that the findings of the study would enable higher education institutions as well as students and practitioners to reflect on how role-emerging placements could be used to meet the needs of students and the future profession. It was also anticipated that findings would inform curriculum design and content to ensure that issues highlighted by participants were addressed, evaluated and critically discussed within education programmes.

Project finding and impact

Key findings reveal that the role-emerging placements acted as a strong catalyst for the students’ ontological development. Through engaging in challenging and autonomous learning experiences, they developed deeper insights of who they were becoming as professionals. This led to a professional identity that was of their own making. Having to continually reflect on and verbalise the core essence and contribution of occupational therapy, students developed clarity of understanding about the uniqueness of the profession. This is an important finding in light of the historical difficulty occupational therapists have had articulating their unique role and professional identity.

Once qualified, participants had mixed experiences concerning the extent to which they were able to sustain this identity and enact practice in a way that was meaningful to them. A significant finding was the difficulty that graduates experienced working in NHS settings where the nature of occupational therapy practice restricted their ability to work in a way that was congruent with the professional way of being that they had developed during their placement. Consideration therefore needs to be given to the nature of occupational therapy practice in traditional settings.

Recommendation is made for role-emerging placements to be made compulsory for all occupational therapy students to assist them in their ontological development and prepare them more effectively for practice. Further research into the long-term influence of such placements, in particular on graduates’ practice and identity, is required.

Research team

Supervisors:

Dr Marion Martin

Professor Gaynor Sadlo

Dr Richard de-Visser

Output

Download Dr Clarke's full report (pdf)

Clarke C, Martin M, de-Visser R, Sadlo (2015) Facing Uncharted Waters’: Challenges experienced by Occupational Therapy Students undertaking Role-emerging Placements. International Journal of Practice-based learning in health and social care, Vol 3(3), 30-45.

Clarke C, Martin M, de-Visser R, Sadlo (2015) Sustaining professional identity in practice following role-emerging placements; opportunities and challenges for occupational therapists. British Journal of Occupational Therapy,78(1) 42-50.

Clarke C, Martin M, Sadlo G, de-visser R (2014) Developing an authentic professional identity on role-emerging placements. British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 77(5), 222-229.

Clarke C (2014) Role emerging placements: a useful model for occupational therapy? A literature review. International Journal of Practice-based learning in health and social care. DOI: 10.11120/pblh.2014.00020

Clarke C (2014) Developing an authentic professional identity through the use of role-emerging placements. Poster presentation: 10th International Conference on Practice Teaching and Field Education in Health and Social Work 7-8 April 2014.

Clarke C (2013) Developing an authentic professional identity through the use of role-emerging placements. Poster presentation: College of Occupational Therapists Annual conference, 91快活林 Centre, June 3-5^th 2014.

Clarke C (2013) Using role-emerging placements to broaden the practice experience of occupational therapy students. University of 91快活林 Teaching and Learning Conference.

Clarke c (2013) Developing an authentic professional identity through the use of role-emerging placements. National Association of Educators in Practice, Annual Conference, University of 91快活林.

Clarke C (2013) Developing an authentic professional identity through the use of role-emerging placements. Poster presentation: University of 91快活林 Pedagogic Conference.

Clarke C (2011) The influence of role-emerging placements on occupational therapy students once qualified. In: College of Occupational Therapists (2011) College of Occupational Therapists 35th annual conference and exhibition, plus specialist sections’ annual conference: HIV/AIDS, Oncology, Palliative Care, Neurological Practice, and Forensic Forum, 28 June-1 July 2011, 91快活林 Centre, 91快活林, Sussex: book of abstracts. London: College of Occupational Therapists. 15.

Clarke C (2010) Preparing students for practice in new and innovative settings. OT News, 18(7), 31.

Clarke C (2009) An Introduction to Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis: a useful approach for occupational therapy. British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 72(1), 37-39.

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