The Level I fieldwork process.

Abstract

This paper reports the results of a nationwide study in which the factors that relate to the overall Level I fieldwork implementation were compared across a variety of occupational therapy fieldwork settings. Two questionnaires were used to collect data: One was completed by 395 Level I fieldwork site supervisors, and the other by faculty representatives from 40 professional-level academic occupational therapy programs. The data showed that there were more similarities than differences among the fieldwork sites, thus suggesting that a common process is used in most fieldwork placements. The primary factors that differentiated among the various fieldwork settings were variables that tended to describe the settings demographically (e.g., type of employment setting, funding sources). Interesting differences were found among the various fieldwork settings between the amount of supervision given to Level I students and the amount of independent, treatment-oriented performance by the students.