TY - JOUR
T1 - Effectiveness of the Community–Academia Student Tutoring (CAST) program in enhancing students’ practice placement readiness
AU - Tal-Saban, Miri
AU - Weintraub, Naomi
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2018.
PY - 2019/4/1
Y1 - 2019/4/1
N2 - Introduction: Occupational therapy programs include practice education, which is a vital aspect of professional practice preparation. We evaluated the effectiveness of the Community–Academia Student Tutoring program for enhancing occupational therapy students’ perceived readiness for their practice placement, thus reducing their feelings of anxiety. Method: The study included 84 first-year undergraduate occupational therapy students aged 21–35 years, of whom 43 participated in the Community–Academia Student Tutoring group program and the rest comprised the control group. Participants completed the Student Self-Competency and Readiness for Fieldwork questionnaire prior to their first practice placement. Findings: Anxiety was related to the Student Self-Competency and Readiness for Fieldwork’s components and total score. The Community–Academia Student Tutoring group scored significantly higher (p <.05) than the controls in the Evaluation and Communication with Patients components of the questionnaire, after controlling for anxiety level. Implications: It appears that it is possible to enhance students’ readiness for their practice placement through a structured and intensive community-based mentoring program that is guided by faculty and includes activities of briefing and debriefing, such as the Community–Academia Student Tutoring program.
AB - Introduction: Occupational therapy programs include practice education, which is a vital aspect of professional practice preparation. We evaluated the effectiveness of the Community–Academia Student Tutoring program for enhancing occupational therapy students’ perceived readiness for their practice placement, thus reducing their feelings of anxiety. Method: The study included 84 first-year undergraduate occupational therapy students aged 21–35 years, of whom 43 participated in the Community–Academia Student Tutoring group program and the rest comprised the control group. Participants completed the Student Self-Competency and Readiness for Fieldwork questionnaire prior to their first practice placement. Findings: Anxiety was related to the Student Self-Competency and Readiness for Fieldwork’s components and total score. The Community–Academia Student Tutoring group scored significantly higher (p <.05) than the controls in the Evaluation and Communication with Patients components of the questionnaire, after controlling for anxiety level. Implications: It appears that it is possible to enhance students’ readiness for their practice placement through a structured and intensive community-based mentoring program that is guided by faculty and includes activities of briefing and debriefing, such as the Community–Academia Student Tutoring program.
KW - Practice education
KW - anxiety
KW - community service learning
KW - occupational therapy
KW - practice placement
KW - students’ self-perception
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85060347162&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/0308022618800179
DO - 10.1177/0308022618800179
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AN - SCOPUS:85060347162
SN - 0308-0226
VL - 82
SP - 220
EP - 226
JO - British Journal of Occupational Therapy
JF - British Journal of Occupational Therapy
IS - 4
ER -