Currently licensed and Adequately prepared supervisors:

This policy is parented by ACOTE standard C.1.11:  

Document and verify that the student is supervised by a currently licensed or otherwise regulated occupational therapist who has a minimum of 1 year full -time (or its equivalent) of practice experience as a licensed or otherwise regulated occupational therapist prior to the onset of level II fieldwork. Ensure that the student supervisor is adequately prepared to serve as a fieldwork educator prior to the Level II fieldwork. The supervising therapist may be engaged by the fieldwork site or by the educational program (ACOTE, 2018).

POLICY:

Appropriate Licensure:

It is the responsibility of the Cox College fieldwork department to investigate the licensure status of the level 2 fieldwork supervisor. They will upload and maintain the information within the fieldwork tracking software. This information will include state of licensure, licensure issue date, expiration date, and license number. The information will include a date stamp indicating that the investigation was complete prior to the start of the student's level II fieldwork.  

Adequate Preparation:

It is the responsibility of the Cox College fieldwork department to recurrently offer education related to fieldwork. This occurs in a variety of ways including: via email, phone calls, onsite visits, MOTA meetings, Cox Health departmental meetings, Cox College MSOT Facebook page, Cox College website, Exxat software, formal conferences (such as periodically offering the AOTA Fieldwork Educators Workshop), and other avenues to disseminate educational content related to supervising students.

In addition, a number of professionals will serve as a part of the Cox College Fieldwork Advisory Task Team. The following vital roles are present within the Fieldwork Advisory Task Team to assist the AFWC:

• Cox College Administrative staff: provides knowledge and insight related to allied health experience for all contracting fieldwork entities. In addition, provides expertise in advising the collection of protected student health information and fulfilling the requests for student information from fieldwork sites.
• CoxHealth Clinical Therapist Educator: finds and facilitates educational opportunities for all Cox Health occupational therapists. In addition to the education provided to the CoxHealth occupational therapists, she also assists in coordinating opportunities for continuing education for all therapists in our community.
• CoxHealth OTs : provide valuable input and help to inform clinical competency expectations related to student preparedness for fieldwork experiences. These team members serves as  liaisons for networking between the Cox health System and Cox College.
• Cox Health legal team: provide assistance and advisement related to legal compliance. In house staff and contracted services also help with other items such as  background checks, Title IX, ADA compliance, and student of concern issues.
• OT Fieldwork Coordinator   Active in promoting the program in the community leading to development of potential fieldwork sites. Responsible for sustaining relations and networking with current sites and communicating availability with AFWC.

It is also the responsibility of the fieldwork program to investigate that the OTR has a minimum of one-year full time clinical experience

SCOPE:         This is applicable to the Cox College OT fieldwork program.

Decision tree outlining the Cox College procedure for establishing fieldwork sites:

COE Guidelines for an Occupational Therapy Fieldwork Experience - Level II are available below for Fieldwork Supervisors and can be used as a guideline in the case of claims against a supervisor to help determine supervisor status. Other helpful information may come from the student evaluation of a fieldwork site.

These guidelines can be found at: http://www.aota.org/~/media/Corporate/Files/EducationCareers/Educators/Fieldwork/LevelII/COE%20Guidelines%20for%20an%20Occupational%20Therapy%20Fieldwork%20Experience%20--%20Level%20II--Final.pdfLinks to an external site.

MSOT DEPARTMENTAL POLICY RELATED TO FIELDWORK

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­LEVEL 2 SUPERVISION WHEN NO OTR EXISTS

PURPOSE: This policy is to ensure diligence when placing a student in a fieldwork

setting where no occupational therapist exists. This policy is parented by ACOTE

standard C.1.14:

Document and verify that supervision provided in a setting where no occupational therapy services exist includes a documented plan for provision of occupational therapy services and supervision by a currently licensed or otherwise regulated occupational therapist with at least 3 years’ full-time or its equivalent of professional experience prior to the Level II fieldwork. Supervision must include a minimum of 8 hours of direct supervision each week of the fieldwork experience. An occupational therapy supervisor must be available, via a variety of contact measures, to the student during all working hours. An on-site supervisor designee of another profession must be assigned while the occupational therapy supervisor is off site (ACOTE, 2018).

POLICY: Emerging practice settings and settings where no occupational therapist exists are present in the Springfield and surrounding community as well as in other parts of the United States. For example, there are local inpatient psychiatric units with little to no occupational therapy services for many years. There are also service opportunities for emerging practice areas such as community based practice, primary care services, and other unidentified sites.

It is the policy of Cox College OT program that if a level 2 fieldwork experience identified would be a viable, valuable experience then the following criteria must be met in order to consider placement of a student in this setting:

1. The supervisor must be a currently licensed occupational therapist (OTR) with a minimum of 3 years’ full time experience practicing occupational therapy.
2. The OTR must demonstrate a working knowledge of the setting identified by sharing past experience, current research, or other approved substance of knowledge. This must then be discussed with the AFWC and approved.
3. There must be a detailed 12-week plan that outlines the expectations of the student, the supervisor, and the academic institution. This outline must be approved by the Academic Fieldwork Coordinator (AFWC).
4. A learning contract will be developed by the OTR supervisor and AFWC then signed by the student to ensure learning objectives and expectations are clear.
5. At a minimum, the supervising OTR must provide 8 hours of direct supervision of the student per week. This minimum requirement can be met face to face or via on line communication platform.
6. There must be an on-site supervisor who communicates with the student for day to day supervision and guidance. This on-site supervisor and the supervising OTR must communicate at least one time per week.
7. The supervising OTR must be available to the student via a variety of contact methods and be able to respond to the student within a reasonable timeframe.
8. Once the 12-week outline and learning contract are approved then one must also obtain written approval from the OT Department Chair. Any objections will be considered and revisions made as needed. 

SCOPE: This policy is for occupational therapy students completing a level 2 fieldwork experience in a setting where no OTR exists.