Job Club: A Program to Assist Occupational Therapy Students’ Transition to Practice

Katrina Liddiard,Yuluan Wang,Cary Brown,Amy Wallis,Karen Long,Rachel Batten

doi:10.3390/educsci7030070

Katrina Liddiard, Yuluan Wang + Show 4 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci7030070

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Abstract

Transition to practice can be identified as the change from the role of student to the role of practitioner. This period of transition is a time of intense professional and personal development. Typically, it can take anywhere between six months to two years before an entry-level therapist feels competent in the workplace. A number of factors affect the transition process, including role uncertainty, inadequate supervision, and an overall lack of confidence in clinical skills. This paper discusses a case example of a Job Club, provided by a Western Australian Occupational Therapy university program. The concept was initially set up to support students through the process of seeking and gaining employment. Over time, the club developed a broader scope based on the needs of attendees. This example illustrates the needs of students for greater support in this important transition, and lays the groundwork for formal research in future.

Highlights

Occupational therapy programs aim to prepare graduates for competent practice; current research indicates that graduates frequently feel unprepared and often lack confidence in their knowledge and skills [1]
Studies indicate that students have an expectation that they will feel competent and valued as they transition to the role of occupational therapist, there is frequently a disconnect between a new graduate’s expectations and the realities of their experience [2,5]
This research reported that two-fifths of the time graduates spent with their professional supervisor was focused on clinical casework, with the remaining time being divided between professional development and support

Summary

Introduction

Occupational therapy programs aim to prepare graduates for competent practice; current research indicates that graduates frequently feel unprepared and often lack confidence in their knowledge and skills [1]. Australian occupational therapy graduates found the most important factors in successful transition to practitioner were a sense of job satisfaction and realization of expectations that were held prior to graduating. Results indicated that unmet expectations can lead to a phenomenon that the researchers termed ‘Reality Shock’, an experience characterized by feelings of stress, conflict, role uncertainty and withdrawal [6]. Further studies support this concept, finding that recently graduated occupational therapists often experience difficulties in the early years of working. These difficulties, in part, being attributed to a gap between expectations of practice as an occupational therapist and the actual experience [1,2]

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