Momentary Participation and Emotional Well-Being of Occupational and Physical Therapy Students: Initial Evaluation.

The purpose of this study was to examine the existence of preprofessional stereotypes in physical therapy (PT) and occupational therapy (OT) students at an urban midwestern university. Forty-two junior PT students and 42 junior OT students completed the Health Team Stereotyping Scale (HTSS) as a self-administered survey questionnaire. The students' total and individual word-pair scores on the HTSS were then compared. The first comparison, between the PT students' and the OT students' views of the PT profession, indicated that the PT students' assessment of the PT profession was more positive than that of the OT students. The second comparison, between the OT students' and the PT students' views of the OT profession, indicated that the OT students' perception of the OT profession was more positive than that of the PT students. Each student group chose both positive and negative descriptors for the other group. Some positive adjectives chosen by the OT students to describe PT students were "proud," "passive," and "precise." The PT students chose "casual" and "intentional" to positively describe OT students. Some negative adjectives chosen by the OT students to describe PT students were "overrated," "competitive," and "strict." The PT students described OT students as "passive," "dull," and "narrow." Both groups thought the other group was conventional and conservative. Awareness of the existence of positive and negative stereotypes may influence behaviors in preprofessional and professional environments.

Introduction. The Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education and the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education require the integration of interprofessional education (IPE) into their respective educational programs. This follows reports from the Institute of Medicine and the World Health Organization that highlight the importance of IPE to prepare professionals for interprofessional collaborative practice. However, information related to practical strategies to incorporate learning experiences into the curriculum is sparse. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of an interprofessional simulation on the self-efficacy of physical therapy (PT) and occupational therapy (OT) students and to explore student perceptions of the IPE experience to better understand their engagement in learning. Methods. The study sample included 51 first-year PT students and 36 third year OT students, all enrolled in a case-based class, respectively. A quasi-experimental pretest–posttest design was used to examine changes in self-efficacy for interprofessional learning among participants after an interprofessional simulation activity. Participants completed the Self-Efficacy for Interprofessional Experiential Learning (SEIEL) survey 1 week before the simulation activity (pretest) and 1 week after (posttest.) Qualitative methods were used to gather feedback from participants about the learning activity. Results. Self-efficacy scores for OT students and PT students on each SEIEL subscale were calculated. For the interprofessional interaction subscale, there was a significant main effect between pretest and posttest scores, with posttest scores higher than pretest scores. There was no difference based on whether they were an OT or PT student. Similarly, there was a significant main effect between pretest and posttest scores on the interprofessional team evaluation and feedback subscale, whereas there was no significant effect based on student discipline. Both OT and PT students reported they gained knowledge about the other profession's role, scope of practice, goals, and evaluation and treatment activities and described the opportunity to plan and problem solve as the most helpful aspect of this learning activity. Their responses indicated that they perceived the greatest learning through the direct hands-on time with the standardized patients and the rest of the time was not valuable as they were just watching. Discussion and Conclusion. Occupational therapy and PT students benefited equally with improved self-efficacy and positive learning outcomes. In a time with many uncertainties in IPE, this study provides evidence that a single, brief learning activity can be beneficial.

Introduction Conflicts related to hierarchy are a known barrier to interprofessional (IP) practice among healthcare teams. While these barriers between physicians and nurses are well established in the literature, studies on power dynamics between allied health professions and physicians are lacking. The aim of this study was to explore the prevalence of role claiming and identify negative perceptions towards occupational therapy (OT), physical therapy (PT), and physician assistant (PA) professions among first-semester OT, PT, and PA students as well as 4th-year medical (MD) students. Methods In an IRB-approved study, MD, OT, PT, and PA students were asked to complete a role knowledge survey consisting of 33 questions before and after OT, PT, and PA students completed an IP anatomy course where MD students served as near-peer mentors. The survey asked students to identify which profession (OT, PT, or PA) was best suited to aid the patient in a clinical vignette and included three open-ended questions asking for descriptions of these professions' roles. The rates at which OT, PT, and PA students claimed a role as their own professions' were assessed using Kruskal-Wallis and Wilcoxon Signed Rank tests. Perceptions of each profession were examined through thematic analysis of free responses. Results The average rate of roles students in OT, PT, and PA programs identified as their own exceeded the expected rate, 33.3%, and ranged from 38.1% (OT) to 44.2% (PT). PT students demonstrated a significant decrease, 3.9%, in role claiming following the IP course (p=.003), while OT and PA rates changed marginally. Qualitative themes included perceived limitations to each profession's scope of practice and language with belittling connotations. MD, PA, and PT students utilized verbs insinuating less power to describe OT roles (i.e. help, aid, assist) compared to verbs with authoritative connotations to describe PA and PT roles (i.e. perform, enhance, strengthen). OT and PT students emphasized an exaggerated power disparity between PAs and MDs, portraying PAs in a more subordinate light than MD students did. Inaccurate limitations to scopes of practice of OTs, PTs, and PAs were frequently found in the descriptions from students outside that profession. Preliminary comparisons of pre- and post-free responses indicate fewer inaccuracies regarding limitations to each profession's scope of practice following the IP course. Conclusions Even at the onset of their professional programs, students exhibited role claiming and negative, often inaccurate, perceptions about the roles of other health professions. The power conflict demonstrated by both quantitative and qualitative measures can impede IP collaboration. While this early IP course had a positive influence on role claiming and resolving some misconceptions about scopes of practice, several obstinate hierarchical barriers remained, particularly towards OTs and PAs. Furthermore, the inaccurate and limited views of OT, PT, and PA scopes of practice demonstrated by students outside those professions that persisted have the potential to hinder patient care. Circumventing these obstructive power dynamics is pertinent for improving IP practice between physicians and allied health professionals.

<p><strong><em>Abstract</em></strong></p> <p>Purpose: This study sought to assess attitudes, mutual perceptions, and knowledge of each other’s professional roles as obtained from occupational therapy (OT) and physiotherapy (PT) students.</p> <p>Method: A cross-sectional study was carried out among OT and PT students in a Nigerian university. Fifty-six copies of a revised questionnaire were used as the survey instrument, all of which were returned fully completed. The data obtained were analyzed using descriptive statistics of mean and standard deviation, frequencies, and inferential statistics of chi-square tests. Alpha level was set at p<0.05.</p> <p>Results: Fewer PT students (16.7%) demonstrated good knowledge of the scope of OT, while 64.3% of OT students showed good knowledge of PT. There was a 100% positive attitude from both sets of students towards each other’s profession. 11.9% of the PT and 28.6% of the OT students perceived the two professions as being in direct competition. There was a significant difference between the PT and OT students surveyed in the knowledge of the other profession (χ<sup>2</sup> = 11.842, p = 0.001). </p> <p>Conclusion: More OT students were familiar with PT than PT students with OT. Both OT and PT students declared positive attitudes towards the other profession, with a minority in either group representing the view that the two professions are in direct competition.</p>

BackgroundDespite the global burden of chronic pain, gaps in pain education persist in healthcare programs. This study evaluated pain knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs among final-year physiotherapy (PT) and occupational therapy (OT) students in Jordan, compared these competencies between disciplines, examined the relationship between pain knowledge and beliefs, and explored significant predictors of pain knowledge.MethodsA descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted using an online survey of final-year PT and OT students from three public universities in Jordan. Pain knowledge was assessed using the Revised Neurophysiology of Pain Questionnaire (RNPQ), and attitudes and beliefs toward pain and disability were measured with the modified Health Care Providers’ Pain and Impairment Relationship Scale (HC-PAIRS). Students also reported perceived sources of pain knowledge. Data analysis involved non-parametric tests for group comparisons, Spearman correlations to assess the RNPQ-HC-PAIRS association, and multiple linear regression to identify predictors of RNPQ scores.ResultsA total of 216 students completed the survey (PT: n=149; OT: n=67). PT students demonstrated higher RNPQ scores and lower HC-PAIRS scores than OT students (both p< 0.001), indicating a better understanding of pain neurophysiology and more adaptive pain beliefs. Across the total sample, RNPQ and HC-PAIRS scores were inversely correlated (ρ = –0.334, p< 0.001). Regression analysis identified discipline (PT vs OT), endorsing university courses as a primary pain knowledge source, and HC-PAIRS scores as significant predictors of RNPQ scores (adjusted R2 = 0.855, p< 0.001). A significant interaction showed that PT students derived greater pain knowledge gains from university courses than OT students.ConclusionFinal-year PT and OT students in Jordan exhibited limited pain knowledge and persistent biomedical beliefs, with PT students outperforming OT students. University courses were the strongest predictor of pain knowledge, underscoring the need for integrating evidence-based pain curricula with a biopsychosocial focus in both disciplines.

Literature suggests that increased interaction between physical therapy and occupational therapy students may improve their understanding of each other's profession. This cross-sectional study examined positive and negative stereotypes in an educational setting in which physical and occupational therapy students take over 25% of their curricular courses together. The aim of the study was to assess whether interaction between these students in and out of the classroom positively affected their views of each other, as compared with physical and occupational therapy students in previous studies who did not take classes together. Senior students, 25 physical therapy and 28 occupational therapy, completed two copies of the Health Team Stereotype Scale questionnaire exploring attitudes concerning their own chosen profession and the other participants' profession. They also completed an extracurricular activities survey to indicate how much they participated in activities outside of the classroom with students from the other profession. On the stereotype scale, physical therapy students' self-assessment compared with their assessment of occupational therapy students yielded 28 significantly (p<.05) different adjective pairs; occupational therapy students' self-assessment compared with their assessment of physical therapy students yielded 26 significantly (p<.05) different adjective pairs. The students rarely or never participated in extracurricular activities with each other. When comparing present results with those of previous studies, present subjects selected significantly fewer negative adjective pairs to describe the other profession. The results indicate a more positive view of each other's profession than in the previous studies. The interdisciplinary education model examined in our institution may have fostered positive attitudes among students in these programs.

IntroductionThis study expands upon our previous work which evaluated the impact of an interprofessional anatomy course on the rate of role misidentification for occupational therapy (OT), physical therapy (PT), and physician assistant (PA) students. In the present study, a team‐based learning (TBL) intervention involving medical (MD) students was implemented. Our objectives were to 1) assess the effectiveness of these TBL sessions on role comprehension and 2) to identify misunderstandings about OT, PT, or PA roles among students.MethodsFour team‐based learning (TBL) sessions, facilitated by 4th year MD students, were integrated into an anatomy course for PA, PT, and OT students with a primary purpose to review anatomical content through clinical cases. During each TBL session, students were given three cases to work through, including identifying which allied health profession(s) would be most appropriate to lead the patient’s care. Students in all four cohorts were asked to participate in an IRB‐approved pre‐/post‐intervention survey asking them to: 1) identify to which profession the patient in a given scenario should be referred and 2) briefly summarize the roles of these allied health professions. Quantitative data were evaluated using Kruskal‐Wallis and Wilcoxon Signed Rank tests while qualitative data were evaluated using thematic analysis.ResultsWe saw the rate of improvement on role identification from paired pre‐ to post‐surveys triple the rate of improvement seen in our previous study without the TBL intervention. Previously, students had the most difficulty identifying OT roles, which is consistent with the literature. After implementing the TBL sessions, current data combined from all students demonstrated that they correctly identified OTs’ roles at a significantly higher rate compared to pre‐surveys ( p=0.012). Despite this improvement, several discrepancies about OT and PA roles remained prevalent in post‐survey free responses. Students in non‐OT programs perpetuated a common misconception that OTs’ scope of practice is predominantly limited to fine motor skills. MD students had a better understanding of the high level of autonomy and positive relationship between a PA and a physician, whereas OT and PT students often viewed the PA as being dependent on and inferior to the physician.ConclusionsWe have developed an intervention that positively influenced interprofessional comprehension of allied healthcare professions’ roles and illuminated misconceptions that still persist. Quantitative results support the conclusion that the TBL‐intervention improved students’ ability to identify roles, particularly OTs’. While thematic analysis revealed fewer misconceptions regarding professional roles compared to previous study results from students who did not benefit from the TBL intervention, several misconceptions remained prevalent. Implementing interventions focused on improving comprehension of professional roles, such as the one outlined herein, are important to reduce these pervasive misconceptions among the healthcare field.Support or Funding InformationThis study is funded by an International Association of Medical Science Educators (IAMSE) Educational Scholarship Grant.

Purpose: Clinical reasoning (CR) is the ability to integrate the knowledge of diagnoses with the use of supporting theories to create effective, client-centered interventions. One means of teaching CR to rehabilitation students is using standardized patient (SP) experiences. The relationship between faculty and student CR ratings after SP experiences has not been researched. The purpose of the study was to determine if there would be correlations between physical therapy (PT) and occupational therapy (OT) student and faculty ratings of CR skills after an SP experience. Method: The Clinical Reasoning Assessment Tool (CRAT) was used by students to self-reflect on their CR performance after an SP experience and compared to their respective faculty ratings. The CRAT includes three subsections: content knowledge, procedural knowledge, and conceptual reasoning, each with a visual analog scale. Correlations between students’ self-assessment of CR and faculty reviews were analyzed using Spearman’s rho correlations. Results: Seventeen PT and seventeen OT students participated. Spearman’s rho correlation coefficients for the PT students and their faculty were: content knowledge (r=.180; p=.488), procedural knowledge (r=.697; p=.002), and conceptual reasoning (r=.258; p=.317). Spearman’s rho correlation coefficients for the OT students and their faculty were: content knowledge (r=.103; p=.693), procedural knowledge (r=.676; p=.003), and conceptual reasoning (r=.505; p=.039). Conclusions: Neither PT nor OT student ratings was a statistically significant correlation in content knowledge ratings in relation to respective faculty ratings. Both PT and OT student procedural knowledge rating correlations with faculty were strong and statistically significant. PT student and faculty ratings were not significantly correlated in conceptual reasoning compared to faculty; however, OT students and faculty ratings were strong, had positive correlations, and were statistically significant. Further research is needed to assess students’ CR development longitudinally across curricula.

By examining occupational therapy (OT) and physical therapy (PT) students' attitudes toward intellectual disability (ID), Vermeltfoort and colleagues draw our attention to the importance of training and educating health professionals to meet the rehabilitation needs of diverse populations.1 The authors used an online questionnaire to examine 225 Ontario MScOT and MScPT students' attitudes toward, experience with, and willingness and preparedness to work with the ID population. They found that while the majority of students were willing to work with adults living with ID, more than half did not feel adequately prepared to interact with this population in the rehabilitation setting. Furthermore, 75.4% of students reported inadequate knowledge as the main contributor to their feelings of unpreparedness. Vermeltfoort and colleagues conclude that further research is needed to address potential curriculum gaps in Ontario MScOT/PT programs.1 Intellectual disabilities are not uncommon; in fact, about 1% of the global population lives with an ID.2 ID is frequently associated with health complications such as epilepsy and other seizure disorders, abnormalities in motor function, impairments in hearing and vision, and psychopathology.3 Thanks to significant increases in life expectancy for people with ID, there is a need to better train and prepare health professionals to meet the health care needs of adults with ID.4 Rehabilitation practitioners will play an essential role in meeting these needs, and it is therefore troubling that OT and PT students do not feel adequately prepared to work with this population. Also, although it may seem encouraging that students report a “neutral” attitude toward people with ID, this finding warrants further explication. As both of these issues have significant implications for rehabilitation training and curriculum reform, I will further explore the concept of attitudes and knowledge (in relation to skills and competency) in this commentary. People with ID experience many health conditions that are either under-recognized or inadequately managed.5 Research has established that health care workers' knowledge and attitudes have a significant impact on the health care experiences of people with ID.6 The study by Vermeltfoort and colleagues is particularly helpful because it identifies the major barrier that hinders OT/PT students in working with this population: they feel unprepared because they lack an adequate knowledge base.1 Other health disciplines have addressed similar knowledge-base issues by conducting surveys that identify the clinical skills used within their practice area; for example, the clinical skills needed for nurses working with the ID population include assessment, communication and consent, and violence prevention and management, as well as broader skills such as those required for managing epilepsy and mental health issues.7 Identifying core competencies for OT/PT may be the first step toward developing ID-specific rehabilitation curriculum content. Enhancing students' skill sets may improve their self-efficacy and competence, thus helping to decrease health care disparities between people with ID and the general population. However, skills alone are not enough to ensure a positively impact on the care provided to people with ID; we must also recognize the correlation between attitudes and emotional responses to working with these clients. Because a less than positive attitude may evoke negative emotional responses from health professionals, ultimately affecting the quality of care they provide,8 it may not be sufficient for OT and PT students to express “neutral” attitudes toward working with the ID population; curricula may need to integrate purposeful, positive experiences. Face-to-face experience with people with ID is one way of generating more positive attitudes and increasing students' confidence in treating this population.9 Although Vermeltfoort and colleagues note that the majority of the students they surveyed reported prior exposure to people with ID neither the quality nor the type (positive or negative) of that exposure was reported. Nonetheless, evidence supports the inclusion of experiences for both students and clinicians to promote positive contact and to help to reduce any fear associated with working with people living with ID.10,11 This goal can be achieved through various means, including fieldwork experience, clinical placements, and interactive guest speakers. OT and PT curricula must incorporate a thoughtful range of varied experiences to enhance students' exposure to and familiarity with this population. Vermeltfoort and colleagues draw our attention to the importance of establishing curricula that better prepare OT and PT students to work with the ID population.1 This is an important contribution to the literature because it raises awareness of the need to strengthen and enhance current curricula and training. If teaching is to be pedagogically and clinically valid in generating adequate knowledge to address the health care needs of the ID population, curricula must not only address the clinical skills required to work with people with ID but also create opportunities to develop positive attitudes toward this population. Clearly, OT and PT students need to be adequately prepared to work with diverse populations, including people living with ID, regardless of the clinical setting. Therefore, we must be diligent in keeping abreast of changing demographic needs and the evolving demands of the health care system, to ensure that OT and PT curricula are adequately preparing students for current and future practice.

The purpose of the present pilot study was to evaluate the benefits of innovative teaching methodologies introduced to final year occupational and physical therapy students in Christian Medical College in India. Students' satisfactions along the long-term retention of knowledge and clinical application of the respiratory anatomy have been assessed. The final year undergraduate physical therapy and occupational therapy students had respiratory anatomy teaching over two sessions. The teaching involved case-based learning and integrated anatomy lectures (vertical integration) with the Anatomy department. Pretest and immediate and follow-up post-tests were conducted to assess the effectiveness of the innovative methods. A feedback questionnaire was marked to grade case-based learning. The method of integrated and case-based teaching was appreciated and found to be useful in imparting knowledge to the students. Students retained the gained knowledge adequately and the same was inferred by statistically significant improvement in both post-test scores. Vertical integration of anatomy in the final year reinforces their existing knowledge of anatomy. Case-based learning may facilitate the development of effective and clinically sound therapists.

Objectives: To measure and compare distress in entry-level masters occupational therapy (OT) and physical therapy (PT) students; to evaluate distress levels relative to existing data; and to explore factors that cause stress, effects of stress, and coping strategies. Participants: Ninety-eight OT and PT students (75 females, 23 males) from two cohorts at a Canadian university. Methods: Sequential mixed-methods including questionnaires and inductive analysis of focus group discussions. Results: OT and PT students from one cohort reported higher levels of stress, anxiety and/or depression compared to the following academic year and compared to undergraduate and general population samples. The overall theme was the unrelenting tug of war between school and other aspects of students’ lives. Factors related to academic workload negatively affected mental health. Coping strategies included physical activity, strategic selection of peers, and modifying expectations. Conclusions: Wellness in OT and PT students is an important concern that deserves attention.

Given the foundational importance of gross anatomy in most allied health programs, understanding how to best predict student performance can be beneficial both to admissions and anatomy faculty. The purpose of this research is to better understand the relationship between admissions variables, pre‐requisite courses, and gross anatomy coursework in professional programs. We hope to determine what elements of prerequisites can possibly serve as performance predictors and which factors from prior coursework contributes the most to student success.With IRB approval, surveys were given at the start and end of the gross anatomy courses for occupational therapy (OT) and physical therapy (PT) students. The surveys collected demographics, previous anatomy course information, predicted grades for the upcoming course, and Likert scale responses to questions regarding how previous anatomy coursework would assist students in the course. There were several open‐ended questions regarding prior clinical experience, study strategies, and asking if students would recommend a prior anatomy course. Admissions data were collected from the respective departments including Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores and Grade Point Averages (GPA). At the completion of the courses, students' lecture and lab grades were reported by the course director. Analyses of the admissions data, prior anatomy coursework, and current gross anatomy grade data were done primarily through multiple variable linear regression, with t‐tests for comparison between cohorts. Open ended responses were analyzed using a Grounded Theory approach to generate codes and then themes across student responses.There was a 100% survey response rate for those students who completed the courses. Respondents consisted of 83 students, 51 from PT and 32 from OT. All of the OT students reported having previous anatomy coursework and 46 of 51 PT students (90%) reported having an anatomy course. Independent t‐tests showed that PT students performed significantly better than OT students (p &lt; 0.001) in both the lecture courses (MPT = 93.39, SE = .57; MOT = 85.97. SE = .97) and lab courses (MPT = 93.96, SE = .58; MOT = 88.80. SE = 1.02). Multiple variable linear regression showed that GRE Quantitative scores contributed significantly to the model (B = .400, p = .006) and when included with GRE Verbal, prerequisite GPA, and number of prior anatomy courses the model was significant, F(4,78) = 8.033, p &lt; .001 and accounted for almost 30% of the variance. Qualitative analysis showed the majority of students strongly recommended an anatomy course prior to pursuing an OT or PT graduate degree with the most common themes being the management of the volume of information and the importance to the profession. The outcomes serve to demonstrate the validity of admissions variables as predictors of course performance in gross anatomy as well as to determine students' opinions of the value of prior anatomy courses. Student insight into the value of previous anatomy coursework can possibly help guide anatomy educators, at both the undergraduate and graduate level, in determining the focus of their courses.This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2019 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.

This pilot study was designed to assess the perceptions of physical therapy (PT) and occupational therapy (OT) students regarding the use of computer-assisted pedagogy and prosection-oriented communications in the laboratory component of a human anatomy course at a comprehensive health sciences university in the southeastern United States. The goal was to determine whether student perceptions changed over the course of a summer session regarding verbal, visual, tactile, and web-based teaching methodologies. Pretest and post-test surveys were distributed online to students who volunteered to participate in the pilot study. Despite the relatively small sample size, statistically significant results indicated that PT and OT students who participated in this study perceived an improved ability to name major anatomical structures from memory, to draw major anatomical structures from memory, and to explain major anatomical relationships from memory. Students differed in their preferred learning styles. This study demonstrates that the combination of small group learning and digital web-based learning seems to increase PT and OT students' confidence in their anatomical knowledge. Further research is needed to determine which forms of integrated instruction lead to improved student performance in the human gross anatomy laboratory.

To determine the amounts of time that physiotherapy (PT) and occupational therapy (OT) students in problem-based curricula spent in non-scheduled and scheduled educational activities, and to determine whether the students increased or decreased the time spent in educational activities as they progressed through the curricula. The participants were the 29 PT and 29 OT students in the classes of 1992 in the two-year problem-based educational programs at McMaster University. Each student was randomly assigned to different days of the week to record his or her time utilization for a 24-hour period in each of weeks three, seven, and 11 of the second, fourth, and sixth units of the seven-unit curricula. Weeks 11 of the second and fourth units emphasized clinical education; the other weeks involved academic study only. During the academic weeks, the grand ratios of non-scheduled to scheduled time were 2.8:1 for the PT students and 2.9:1 for the OT students. During the two weeks focusing on clinical education, the ratios were lower: 0.4:1 and 0.2:1 for the PT students, and 1:1 and 0.8:1 for the OT students (the discrepancy between the groups may be due to the fact that the OT students had academic assignments during their clinical placements, while the PT students did not). As the students proceeded through the programs, a general decrease in time spent in educational activities was noted. The general decrease in time spent in educational activities as the students progressed through the programs was probably due to their becoming familiar with expectations and their gaining efficiency in using learning resources.

Professionalism is one of the core competencies for occupational and physical therapists. However, difficulty in providing clear definitions of core professional values and behaviours makes professionalism a complex concept to teach. Most proposed frameworks for defining the concept are theoretical or have focused on the academics’ and clinicians’ perspectives; evidence from students’ experiences is lacking. The purpose of this study was to develop a framework to define the concept of professionalism from occupational therapy (OT) and physical therapy (PT) students’ perspectives through analysis of their reflections. The study was a retrospective content analysis of OT and PT students’ reflections completed during clinical placements from 2014-2015 academic years. Sixty students (30 PT and 30 OT) were randomly sampled and one anonymized reflection of each of these students was selected. The qualitative content analysis was initiated by applying a deductive approach using previously presented frameworks to define professionalism. Four themes emerged which resulted in a new framework to define professionalism from students’ perspectives. The emergent themes included the effect of context, the relational dimension, personal dimension, and societal dimension. Students considered context an overarching factor influencing all dimensions of professionalism. Although their perceptions of professionalism were comparable to other presented frameworks, they primarily focused on the relational and personal dimensions of professionalism. The results of this study indicate that OT and PT students consider professionalism as a multi-dimensional and context-specific concept. Despite understanding contextual barriers, at this stage of their professional identity development, students tried to adhere to ethics, and professional values and responsibilities.