A National Occupational Therapist Assistant Student Fieldwork Evaluation

A National Occupational Therapist Assistant Student Fieldwork Evaluation Form Karen Koseck, Patricia Lee, Leanne Sadowsky , Teresa Avvampato and Nancy Pullan Introduction Clinical placements are an integral component of experiential learning for Occupational Therapist Assistant and Physiotherapist Assistant (OTA&PTA) students. Due to large variation in fieldwork evaluation forms used in Canada, The Canadian Occupational Therapist Assistant and Physiotherapist Assistant Educators’ Council (COPEC), identified the need to develop a national standardized clinical fieldwork evaluation form. The primary goal of this new evaluation form was to provide a framework to evaluate students’ clinical competencies, no matter the area or level of practice at the fieldwork site. Also, the completion of a self-assessment by the student prior to meeting with their clinical supervisor provides a mechanism for them to gain insight and develop future learning goals. Objective To determine the ease of use from students and the clinical supervisors on the newly-developed fieldwork evaluation form, specifically related to length of time to complete and degree of clarity to score. Results Conclusion Length of time to complete the new fieldwork form was reported to be between 30 and 40 mins for 26% of students and 29% of clinical supervisors and greater than 40 minutes for 41% of students and 25% of the clinical supervisors. By using a national competency-based fieldwork form, clinical supervisors and students are able to evaluate performance in a consistent manner across different sites, specializations and levels of placement. Overall, survey results indicated that the form is clear and easy to use. It is anticipated that as clinical supervisors become more familiar with the form it will take them less time to complete. Students, new to the form, tended to complete it in over 40 minutes. As students are completing the form by applying the scoring to each unique placement, completion time will likely remain longer in comparison to clinical supervisors. Approach Surveys were developed for both clinical supervisors and students to ascertain the ease of use of the Canadian OTA & PTA Student Fieldwork Evaluation Form. Participants were asked to provide (a) feedback on length of time taken to complete the form, (b) clarity of descriptors provided to be able to distinguish between the ratings and, (c) ease of evaluating each competency category. Additional survey questions included identification of supports required (need and type of education) in order to use the new form. Results indicated that it may take longer for students to complete the form (i. e. more than 40 mins. ) which matches their perception. The Canadian OTA&PTA Student Fieldwork Evaluation Form evaluates students performance on 4 key competencies using 5 point rating scale. Ability to distinguish between rating scale descriptors appeared to be easier for end rankings of the scale for both students and clinical supervisors. Overall, it appeared that students may find it easier to distinguish between the middle rankings in comparison to the clinical supervisors. Both clinical supervisors and students would like more education in use of the form focusing on discrimination between different levels of performance in the mid ranges, and how to score each performance category, specifically communication and collaboration, treatment implementation, and organization of service delivery. Next step would be to develop an online training tutorial on the use of the Canadian OTA&PTA Student Fieldwork Evaluation form. Acknowledgements We would like to thank Canadian Occupational Therapist and Physiotherapist Educators’ Council (COPEC) for collaboration in the development of the fieldwork form. Special thanks to Dean Dickinson, Humber College, Jane Lindsay, Conestoga College and Celia Mirco , Georgian College for their input into creating the original draft of the tool. Survey links were provide to 16 colleges associated with COPEC for distribution to their students and clinical supervisors. Survey feedback was obtained from a convenience sample of 121 student and 134 clinical supervisor respondents from 10 colleges across Canada (5 in Ontario, 3 in Alberta and one each in British Columbia and Saskatchewan). The majority of students (78%) were in their 4 th (final) semester of the program and had completed the new evaluation form three (36%) or four (22%) times. Overall, ease of evaluating performance in each competency category was favourably rated by both students and clinical supervisors, with Professionalism and Accountability being the easiest to score. Clinical Supervisors were OTA and/or PTAs (55. 5%), Physiotherapists (25%) and Occupational Therapists (13%). The majority of these clinical supervisors (62%) had over 3 years experience and had used the new form once (50%) or twice (24%). Contact Information Karen Koseck, MSc, BSc. OT, Program Coordinator OTA & PTA Program, Centennial College, kkoseck@centennialcollege. ca Patricia Lee, MEd, BSc. PT, Faculty OTA & PTA Program, Centennial College, plee@centennialcollege. ca Links to survey resu lts: Students https: //www. surveymonkey. net/results/SM-BFCZVHZH/ Clinical Supervisors https: //www. surveymonkey. net/results/SM-GHF 37 HZH/ Links are password protected for presentation purposes only When asked if there were any parts of the form that were unclear, 88% of students and 85% of clinical supervisors reported no, that there was nothing unclear. Students tended to receive training on the use of the form at school, and clinical supervisors from the college or placement site. Both students and clinical supervisors would like further training, with online tutorial being their preferred method. Leeanne Sadowsky, MSc. OT, On-Site Coordinator, Program Lead Occupational Therapy, Therapist Assistant Programs (OTA/PTA & SLPA), Medicine Hat College, lsadowsky@mhc. ab. ca Teresa Avvampato, OT Reg. (Ont. ), MSc(OT), HBHSc, Program Coordinator OTA & PTA Program, Durham College, teresa. avvampato@durhamcollege. ca Nancy Pullan, Bsc PT, Instructor Rehabilitation Therapy Assistant program, SAIT, nancy. pullan@sait. ca RESEARCH POSTER PRESENTATION DESIGN © 2015 www. Poster. Presentations. com