Week 1: My TOP FIVE Starter Tips for Level II OT Fieldwork Students in School Based Practice

Are you an occupational therapy (OT) student about to embark on your Level II clinical rotations? If one of those rotations will be in school-based practice, then this post is for you!

For starters, practicing as an OT in the school setting can be a very rewarding (yet challenging) experience for fieldwork students. In the United States, school settings vary greatly from district to district, and state to state. This is probably true in other places outside the United States, as well. For purposes of this post and when discussing fieldwork experiences in general, information here focuses on the United States education system.

On a basic level, if you are beginning a fieldwork rotation in the school systems, it can be very helpful to focus on the context of your school environment first. This will help you understand the contexts in which your students on your caseload function each and everyday, which will help you be able to design effective interventions and programs tailored to their individual needs.

Here are my TOP FIVE starter tips to keep in mind as you embark on your school-based fieldwork:

1. Getting to know the role of all school team members is an important first step in your fieldwork journey. In schools, occupational therapists are just one piece of a much larger educational team. Ideally, this team should be collaborating and communicating as much as possible in order to support students from their own professional perspectives.

2. Learn about (or review) the educational continuum - seek to understand the similarities, differences, and overlaps that exist between the worlds of general education and special education. Learn about inclusion and mainstreaming. Research the basics of the laws and regulations that guide and influence education.

3. Learn about the legal document that spells out all of the details of a student's special education program - the Individualized Education Program (IEP). As a school-based therapist, you will gather important information about the students on your caseload from IEPs, and you will complete documentation in IEPs.

4. Get yourself two, large 3-ring binders to bring to your fieldwork site. One can be for organization of your caseload & classrooms you service, and the other can serve as a depository for treatment strategies and activities that you can build over the course of your 12 weeks as a fieldwork student.

5. Become familiar with the domains of OT relative to the school based setting. Occupational therapists support students in both academic and non-academic tasks in schools, as dictated by law. Familiarize yourself with how the domain areas of education, activities of daily living (ADLs)/instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs), social participation, play, leisure, sleep/rest, health management, & work are part of a student's day at school.

As a fieldwork student in school-based practice, you will learn specific treatment strategies and techniques to support students from your fieldwork educator as you work alongside them, slowly taking on more responsibility as the weeks go by. By giving yourself a head start on the information described previously, you will be more comfortable as you learn specifics of treatment, because you will understand the contexts of not only the environment of the students on your caseload, but your professional environment and expectations as well!

Good luck!