ABSTRACT

Objective : The aim of this study was to investigate the current fieldwork affiliation status of the occupational therapy programs in Korea in order to promote the quality of occupational therapy education by providing a guideline for the effective and systematic clinical fieldwork programs.Methods : Occupational therapy fieldwork information was obtained from 24 occupational therapy education programs and 125 occupational therapy clinics nationwide through e-mail questionnaire and telephone interview.Results : Each occupational therapy education program was affiliated with average of 14.3 clinics. The average fieldwork hours were 664 hours. 14 programs set up the fieldwork program during Summer vacation and 13 programs scheduled it during Winter vacation. 5 programs sent students to the fieldwork places during the Spring semester and the students from 3 programs went to the fieldwork plces during the Fall semester. Each fieldwork clinic was affiliated with average of 2.8 occupational therapy education programs and took average of 11.4 students per year. 359 occupational therapists were supervising the students and 57.9 % of the them had less than 3 years of clinical experience. 47.2 % of occupational therapy clinics were taking students for clinical education and 65.3 % of total occupational therapists were participating in the clinical education of the students.Conclusion : The study indicates that the development of a minimum standard for fieldwork education guideline is in an urgent need in order to ensure the quality of occupational therapy service in Korea.