Australian and New Zealand fieldwork: Charting the territory for future practice

Abstract

There are currently 20 occupational therapy programs across Australia/New Zealand. These programs had a combined intake in excess of 1100 students in 2004, with a predicted increase for future. It is proposed that increasing enrolments in occupational therapy programs will enable the profession to meet workforce demands, but the consequence of this is a greater demand for fieldwork placements. In 2003, a meeting of fieldwork coordinators across Australia and New Zealand (Australian and New Zealand Occupational Therapy Fieldwork Academics—ANZOTFA) explored the implications of these trends. Creative models for fieldwork placements and supervision are currently used in Australia/New Zealand and worldwide. The ANZOTFA believe that a broad range of fieldwork models are required to provide placements for growing student numbers. Adoption of diverse models for fieldwork has the potential to increase numbers in a broad range of facilities and services, and allows exposure to and preparation for new and alternative roles for occupational therapy.