Role emerging placements expand opportunities

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March of 2020 had unprecedented, far-reaching effects across all aspects of our lives, and created the need for change in many areas of occupational therapy services and education. One area of exceptional impact was fieldwork education. Changes were felt across all practice settings—including schools, hospitals, home care, and rehabilitation centers. Many traditional placements could not fulfill previously arranged fieldwork placements, and the need for creative solutions to provide students with the culminating aspect of their education arose. Misericordia University took the initiative in the summer of 2020 to develop a role-emerging placement at the Children’s Service Center of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, in order to fulfill this need. During the next 6 months, 4 students successfully completed this role-emerging placement while being supervised remotely by me, demonstrating how role-emerging placements can meet Level II fieldwork objectives and expand opportunities.