Benefits

Being a fieldwork educator comes with many benefits, such as receiving continuing education units for renewing your license. Florida licensure law states that fieldwork educators may receive up to 12 continuing education hours (up to 6 per student) per biennium (Florida Department of State, 2024). Additional benefits may include:

• Opportunity to update practice, apply new ideas, etc.
• Personal satisfaction
• Giving back to the university or profession
• Opportunity to develop clinical reasoning
• Opportunity to develop supervision skills

(Evenson et al., 2015)

Perceived Challenges

While there are many great benefits to being a fieldwork educator, there may also be some barriers or challenges of being one. It is important to remember that perceived benefits and challenges should be considered before deciding to be a fieldwork educator. OT programs have Academic Fieldwork Coordinators who are available to provide resources and assist with challenges that may arise during fieldwork. Some challenges of being a fieldwork educator may include:

• Workload or time
• Physical space (room, desks, physical environment)
• Concern about student capabilities
• Cost of staff time
• Potential difficulties with clients

(Evenson et al., 2015)

Attributes of an Excellent Fieldwork Educator

A study conducted on OT students’ perspectives on fieldwork educators uncovered many attributes that make for successful fieldwork educators. You may notice that you already have many of these great attributes! Overall, students want to learn and develop their clinical thinking skills to become competent entry-level practitioners; attributes to encourage this development may include:

• Providing a “just right challenge” to thes student by balancing challenge within learning experiences, support, guidance, practice, encouragement, and preparation
• Facilitating learning opportunities and encouraging the student to gradually become more independent
• Embracing life-long learning,providing feedback, and valuing students who were developing competencies during their placement
• Developing a supportive relationship that allows space for the students to ask questions by being approachable, dedicated, patient, and trusting
• Working collaboratively with the student to ensure expectations are met
• Recognizing different learning styles and grading tasks to fit the student
• Promoting independent problem solving and self-reflection
• Providing feedback that is balanced between being positive, constructive, and encouraging, in a timely as an opportunity for learning

(Rodger et al., 2014)

Resources for Fieldwork Educators

Whether you are a seasoned fieldwork educator or interested in taking a student for the first time, there are many resources available. It is important to note that to become a fieldwork educator for a Level II fieldwork student, you must have a minimum of 1-year of full-time practice (Commission on Education, 2024). There is currently no set certification needed to be an educator, but there are some resources to help prepare you listed below. 

• AOTA offers a Fieldwork Educators Certificate Workshop and learning modules to receive a fieldwork educator badge
• Florida Occupational Therapists can check for upcoming FLOTEC Fieldwork Educator Courses
• FLOTEC offers an overview of OT resources, resources specific to fieldwork educators, and blog posts related to fieldwork education preparation and enhancement
• AOTA recently updated their resources and guides for fieldwork educators 

Student Fieldwork Manual Recommendations

• Orientation outline
• Assignments
• Safety procedures
• Behavioral objectives
• Week-by-Week plan
• Patient rights/Confidentiality
• Documentation Guidelines
  • Completed samples 
  • Medical abbreviations
  • Discharge plan
  • Billing
• The Occupational Therapy Practice Framework: Domain and Process – Fourth Edition

(AOTA, n.d.)