Document Type (Journals)
Educational Innovations
Abstract
Professional competence and career adaptability are essential for preparing students to meet modern healthcare demands. However, there is a paucity of evidence to guide teaching and learning of these constructs in the context of Level I fieldwork (FW). This paper details a Level I FW program re-design using a professional competence framework to foster adaptability. The re-design’s impact was assessed through student surveys before and after their participation (n = 53) compared to a historical cohort one-year senior (n = 60) using the Career Adapt-Abilities Scale – Short Form. Significant improvements were found in total and concern, curiosity, and confidence subscale scores for the re-design cohort with no significant differences between cohorts. Effect sizes were small for total scores and curiosity and confidence subscales, and medium for the control subscale. Findings emphasize the re-design’s role in enhancing competence and readiness for Level II FW. This study contributes to the need for a growing body of evidence in the scholarship of teaching and learning related to fieldwork education in occupational therapy curricula.
Biography
The authors are all faculty at the Department of Occupational Therapy at the University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA.
Cara Lekovitch, CScD, OTR/L, BCG, FNAP is an assistant professor with over 15 years of clinical experience working with older adults. She is engaged in academic programming via community-based FW experiences and is passionate about designing evidence-based FW experiences. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5765-2152
Ann Marsico, CScD, OTR/L is an academic FW coordinator and associate professor with over 25 years of clinical, FW, and management experience. She is dedicated to student learning and preparing students for professional practice. https://orcid.org/0009-0001-2624-3006
Ketki Raina, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA is professor and vice chair of academic affairs. She is passionate about the scholarship of teaching and learning, developing evidence-based educational strategies, and assessing their implementation in curricula. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9183-2456
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Cara Lekovitch (cal191@pitt.edu).
Declaration of Interest
The authors report no declarations of interest.
Recommended Citation
Lekovitch, C. A., Marsico, A., & Raina, K. (2025). The Re-design of Level I Fieldwork to Foster Professional Competence and Career Adaptability. Journal of Occupational Therapy Education, 9 (3). https://doi.org/10.26681/jote.2025.090315
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.