Puzzle Pieces: A Student Perspective on Connecting and Linking Fieldwork Experiences

Erick Schadler, University of Southern Maine

Pieces to a Puzzle

Imagine you are given 3 puzzle pieces from different boxes. There is a slim chance that these 3 puzzle pieces will fit together, let alone create a meaningful picture. However, this was my experience while completing fieldwork for my Master of Occupational Therapy (MOT) degree at the University of Southern Maine as I tried to link together the puzzle pieces of my unique fieldwork experiences. I hope by sharing my fieldwork experiences that I can encourage other occupational therapy students to make connections between their fieldwork puzzle pieces to create your own meaningful picture.

Fieldwork

As I was gearing up to start my first Level II fieldwork experience in March 2020, the COVID-19 outbreaks became prevalent and raised concerns in the United States. While this was a difficult and uncertain time, it was also a time for occupational therapy practitioners to prove their flexibility, adaptive capacity, and creativity to help occupational therapy students safely participate in fieldwork. Similar to other occupational therapy students across the world, the original picture of fieldwork experiences that I had painted in my mind changed, but I am grateful for how everything came together.

I was fortunate to participate in three Level II fieldwork experiences beginning in May 2020 and ending in January 2021. My first experience was working with an occupational therapist to evaluate the mental health and social participation needs of older adults in the community during the pandemic. We spoke with and surveyed members of the community through a variety of organizations, which led us to create and implement interventions based on the occupational challenges that were reported. For my second experience, I worked with first-year undergraduate students during weekly interventions to build their educational and occupational skills, acquire and use resources, educate on health, develop routines and habits, modify the environment and sensory stimuli, and much more, to help them succeed in the college environment. Through this experience, I also helped teach current MOT students topics related to theory and models of occupational therapy practice. My third experience was working with an outpatient/home health private practice to use evidence-based literature to link the mind and body through mindfulness techniques, in efforts to address clients’ mental and cognitive areas of health while participating in physical occupations as well as their daily routines.

These fieldwork experiences were not intentionally planned to build upon each other. However, they fit together like pieces to a puzzle, which created a meaningful picture of my growth as an occupational therapist.

Connecting and Linking

My fieldwork experiences were in three different settings with unique focuses. It was not until my second experience that I realized the importance of creating and finding links to my work in my prior experience as I transitioned to a new setting and population. For example, in my first fieldwork, I learned about and practiced occupational therapy–specific program development strategies, which I carried with me and implemented in my next fieldwork. Also, throughout my first two experiences, I observed and solidified my understanding of the holistic connection between mental, emotional, cognitive, social, and physical health, even though I was working with two different populations with different occupational challenges. Lastly, through teaching occupational therapy students about occupational theory and models of practice, I began to develop my own therapeutic approach based on the foundations of the profession, a concept that is emphasized in the classroom, but sometimes forgotten in practice.

The link that brought my puzzle pieces together included the simple concept of “occupational engagement.” I realized this in my second-to-last week of fieldwork, while examining the literature for mindfulness interventions. I found an article published in 2011 titled, Mindfulness and Flow in Occupational Engagement: Presence in doing by Denise Reid. This article provided me with a new perspective on how I could summarize my fieldwork experiences with the common theme of “occupational engagement.” In my first fieldwork, I was concerned about the effect of a lack of social engagement on the older adult population’s mental health in the community, and was problem solving interventions to address this concern. In my second experience, I focused on providing services to college-aged students to help them not just participate, but really engage in the educational setting for optimal success. Also, I was able to teach occupational therapy students about the importance of engagement, notably as related to the Canadian Model of Occupational Performance and Engagement, which is also referenced in Reid’s 2011 article. Lastly, in my third experience, I was able to utilize mindfulness techniques to directly intervene at the level of occupational engagement by bringing the mental, emotional, and cognitive awareness and attention to help each client’s mind and body communicate for purposeful, mindful, and meaningful engagement in their physical occupations and daily routines.

Relation to Occupational Therapy

Meaning is an important component of occupational therapy education and practice. Just as we strive to provide meaning within everyday practice with our clients, we need to also find, acknowledge, and understand the underlying meaning of our fieldwork experiences. Think back to the fundamental skills that we learned in our occupational therapy education with constant reflection, changing perspectives, and making connections. Reflecting on your experiences can come naturally to an occupational therapist, but take some time to intentionally engage with those memories and learning opportunities. View your experiences from different perspectives and occupational therapy “lenses,” like models of practice or the core concepts of the profession. Make connections and find those moments that link your fieldwork experiences for a deeper learning and appreciation of your hard work. 

Give it a Try

Completing fieldwork during a global pandemic is a difficult task. No matter where you are in your occupational therapy education process, now is the time to pat yourself on the back. I encourage you to appreciate your hard work by making meaningful connections and recognizing links that acknowledge and solidify your overall learning as a student with your fieldwork puzzle pieces.

As you reflect on your fieldwork experiences, ask yourself: What were my puzzle pieces, how do they connect, and what meaningful picture arises from linking these experiences?

Reference

Reid, D. (2011). Mindfulness and flow in occupational engagement: Presence in doing. Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 78, 50–56. https://doi.org/10.2182/cjot.2011.78.1.7.

Erick Schadler recently graduated from the Master of Occupational Therapy Program at the University of Southern Maine. He values providing holistic services to clients of all ages and abilities to help them achieve their occupational and daily life goals. In his free time, Erick enjoys playing basketball, doing photography, and listening to podcasts. Erick thanks his family, friends, and faculty as USM for their dedication and support throughout his occupational therapy education.