Faculty Preparation for Teaching in Occupational Therapy: Current State and Future Needs.

IMPORTANCE: Results of this study are helpful for the development of new faculty members who may have been trained as clinicians but not necessarily as academicians. OBJECTIVE: To determine occupational therapy faculty perceptions of their preparation for a teaching role, evaluate professional development activities in which educators currently engage, and identify teaching and learning topics most needed in future training activities. DESIGN: Quantitative, descriptive survey. SETTING: Educational institutions across the United States. PARTICIPANTS: Occupational therapy and occupational therapy assistant faculty (N = 449). OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: A survey was created, pilot tested, and distributed. Questions were related to respondents' institutional requirements and support for faculty development, developmental activities in which respondents participated, comfort levels with select teaching responsibilities, and topics of interest for additional development. RESULTS: Results show that training related to teaching and instructional design is not required but is highly encouraged at most educational institutions. Although most institutions do provide financial support for development opportunities outside of the institution, informal meetings are the predominant development activities both offered and used by faculty. Respondents cited learning how to develop test questions, designing course assignments, and learning about teaching methods and techniques as topics about which they would most like to gain more knowledge. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: These results inform a meaningful and necessary plan to train new occupational therapy faculty members as academicians and to ensure continuing development of experienced faculty for optimal performance and retention. What This Article Adds: This report provides faculty and administrators with a starting point for the provision of faculty development content that has the potential not only to improve teaching skills but also to increase faculty self-confidence and retention.

Use of simulated patients and reflective video analysis to assess occupational therapy students' preparedness for fieldwork.

Educators must determine whether occupational therapy students are adequately prepared for Level II fieldwork once they have successfully completed the didactic portion of their coursework. Although studies have shown that students regard the use of video cameras and simulated patient encounters as useful tools for assessing professional and clinical behaviors, little has been published in the occupational therapy literature regarding the practical application of simulated patients or reflective video analysis. We describe a model for a final Comprehensive Practical Exam that uses both simulated patients and reflective video analysis to assess student preparedness for Level II fieldwork, and we report on student perceptions of these instructional modalities. We provide recommendations for designing, implementing, and evaluating simulated patient experiences in light of existing educational theory.