Document Type (Journals)
Original Research
Abstract
The American healthcare system has undergone significant changes in the past few years due to government and corporate-level changes. As healthcare requirements continue to shift, occupational therapists must continue to assert their role or risk losing relevancy. Therefore, educational programs must prepare students to meet the populations’ shifting healthcare needs through agile curricula which focus less on isolated skills and more on broad areas of impact. To determine essential content comprising a ‘metacurriculum’ for occupational therapy education of the future, nine articles were analyzed using Bloom’s Taxonomy (revised) to code each document into knowledge, skills, and behaviors. Major themes were identified across all documents. Through the coding analysis eleven themes were identified: population health, developing life-long learners, advocacy (at government and individual level), interprofessional collaboration, generation of evidence and translational science, diversity and inclusion, psychosocial concerns, aging, wellbeing and preventative care, contemporary issues and informatics. The themes can serve as an outline for academic programs to continue to evolve their curricula to ensure that practitioners are fully prepared to address the global issues that will manifest during their careers in occupational therapy.
Biography
Quinn P. Tyminski, OTD, OTR/L is an instructor at the Program in Occupational Therapy at Washington University School of Medicine. Prior to transitioning to academia, she spent 4 years practicing in a nonprofit community-based treatment setting, specializing in homelessness and mental illness.
Amy Nguyen, B.S. is a student in the occupational therapy program at Washington University of St. Louis. She will receive her MSOT in 2019 with plans to pursue advanced degrees in public health and community programming. She is passionate about addressing occupational injustice in marginalized populations.
Steven D. Taff, PhD, OTR/L, FNAP, FAOTA is Associate Professor in Occupational Therapy and Medicine and Education Division Director in the Program in Occupational Therapy at Washington University School of Medicine. He also directs the Teaching Scholars Program at Washington University School of Medicine. Dr. Taff’s scholarly interests include critical learning theory and educational philosophy.
Declaration of Interest
The authors report no declarations of interest.
Recommended Citation
Tyminski, Q. P., Nguyen, A., & Taff, S. D. (2019). Proposing a Metacurriculum for Occupational Therapy Education in 2025 and Beyond. Journal of Occupational Therapy Education, 3 (4). https://doi.org/10.26681/jote.2019.030404
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