DOI

https://doi.org/10.57709/36979637

Author ORCID Identifier

0009-0006-4925-8944

Date of Award

5-10-2024

Degree Type

Capstone Project

Degree Name

Doctor of Occupational Therapy (OTD)

Department

Occupational Therapy

First Advisor

Carolyn Podolski

Second Advisor

Jade Holloway

Third Advisor

Annamarie McFarland

Abstract

Introduction: Observation, informal discussion with experts[1], and the literature indicate that occupational therapy (OT) students often enter the acute care setting for Level II Fieldwork (FW II) or new jobs post-graduation with deficits in knowledge, skills, and clinical judgment specifically for the acute care setting (Baird, Raina, Rogers, O’Donnell, & Holm, 2015; Gibbs, Dietrich, & Dagnan, 2017; Knecht-Sabres, 2013). Without specific courses in acute care, students in the majority of OT graduate programs do not get extensive exposure to this setting. The development of an elective on OT in acute care for Georgia State University’s (GSU) OT graduate doctorate program was proposed to address this gap.

Protocol: A literature review was conducted in order to establish a basis for the course’s underlying pedagogical models and to determine key elements that made similar programs successful in enhancing student confidence, knowledge, and skill application. A three-week observation at Grady Memorial Hospital was undertaken in order to gain a better understanding of the challenges, knowledge deficits, and skill deficits that FW II educators and students identify as initial impediments early on in the FW II experience. The remaining 11 weeks were dedicated to developing the course and gaining experience in teaching skills labs.

Resulting Program: A 14-unit elective course focused on OT in the acute care setting was designed to increase the confidence, performance skills, and clinical judgment of students in the OT doctorate program at GSU in preparation for FW II in the acute care setting. It follows a flipped classroom model, with asynchronous lectures to be reviewed prior to a hands-on skills lab with real-world simulations and hospital equipment. Underlying pedagogical models include Kolb’s Experiential Learning (ELT) Model and more Authentic, Reflective and Collaborative (mARC) instructional design model, with findings that indicate the importance of incorporating self-reflection, debriefing, feedback, and experiential learning.

Conclusion: This course will allow the OT doctorate program at GSU to offer an additional specialized acute care elective course that students can take advantage of in order to increase their knowledge and competency in this practice setting. The offering of such a course also increases the value of GSU’s program in the following two areas: (1) the program will be more attractive to students applying to OT school by offering this specialized practice course and (2) local hospitals can expect GSU students who have completed the course to have increased foundational knowledge and skills prior to beginning FW II in acute care.

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