The Career Choice of First-Year Occupational Therapy Students: A Follow-up Study

Background. Occupational therapy students need to develop self-efficacy for managing the therapeutic relationship in practice. This study examined the 10-month trajectories of Norwegian students’ self-efficacy for use of self. Methods. Eighty-nine students completed self-efficacy questionnaires related to the use of self after a workshop and at 3- and 10-month follow-up. Changes on the three outcome measures (self-efficacy for therapeutic mode use, for recognizing clients’ interpersonal characteristics, and for managing interpersonal events) were analyzed with repeated measures ANOVA. Results. Across the follow-up period, the students improved their self-efficacy for therapeutic mode use (partial η2 = 0.44, p<0.001), for recognizing clients’ interpersonal characteristics (partial η2 = 0.81, p<0.001), and for managing interpersonal events (partial η2=0.32, p<0.001). Conclusion. The increased self-efficacy for use of self that was found at 3-month follow-up was maintained at 10-month follow-up. The results indicate that students may experience a boost in self-efficacy for therapeutic use of self after a brief workshop and that these changes can be sustained over time.

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From student to therapist: Follow up of a first cohort of Bachelor of Occupational Therapy students

Australian Occupational Therapy Journal ◽

10.1111/j.1440-1630.2008.00751.x ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 56 (5) ◽

pp. 341-349 ◽

Cited By ~ 22

Author(s):

Georgina Doherty ◽

Karen Stagnitti ◽

Adrian M. M. Schoo

Keyword(s):

Occupational Therapy ◽

Occupational Therapy Students

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A Follow-Up Study of a First-Year Leadership and Service Learning Module

10.18260/1-2--19056 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Farzana Ansari ◽

Jennifer Wang ◽

Ryan Shelby ◽

Eli Patten ◽

Lisa Pruitt

Keyword(s):

Service Learning ◽

First Year ◽

Follow Up Study ◽

Learning Module

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Occupational Balance: What Tips the Scales for New Students?

British Journal of Occupational Therapy ◽

10.1177/030802260506800706 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 68 (7) ◽

pp. 319-323 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Lesley Wilson ◽

Ann Wilcock

Keyword(s):

Occupational Therapy ◽

Health Benefits ◽

First Year ◽

Written Responses ◽

Health And Wellbeing ◽

Educational Benefit ◽

Occupational Therapy Students ◽

New Students ◽

Open Question

The open question, ‘What prevents you from reaching occupational balance?’, was posed within a questionnaire aimed at exploring the meanings of occupation, health and wellbeing with a cohort of first-year occupational therapy students during their initial few weeks at university. Their written responses to the question about occupational balance were analysed and are discussed in this paper. Not surprisingly, occupational balance appeared to be achieved by only a few and more by chance than design. People, time and money factors were identified as the main impediments to achieving occupational balance, with psychological and emotional pressures being at the forefront. Interestingly, despite these barriers, the overall educational benefit of considering the occupational balance question in this way raised the students' awareness of its relationship to health and wellbeing. This increased awareness might have longer-term health benefits, both personally and professionally, which would be worthy of further research.

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