„Building a bridge" from occupational therapy students to competent professional

Croatian Health Care Act and Law on health care professionals defined occupational therapy education in Croatia as follows: three years of bachelor study (includes 1500 hours of fieldwork practice, one year of internship with... [ view full abstract ]

Croatian Health Care Act and Law on health care professionals defined occupational therapy education in Croatia as follows: three years of bachelor study (includes 1500 hours of fieldwork practice, one year of internship with approx. 1800 hours of practical work under supervision) and state exam. Literature has explored the challenges experienced by newly qualified occupational therapists moving from colleague to practice which in Croatia is more emphasized by the context defined through position of the profession in health care, social care, education and work area.
The authors of this paper believe that during transition from student to professional, it is crucial to „establish a strong bridge“ between theoretical foundation and practice which can be enabled by the support from mentors, senior occupational therapists. This transition phase in the literature is called Preceptorship.
The aim of this paper is to identify characteristics of mentors and placements which facilitated professional development, the challenging areas, positive influences of fieldwork practice and internships in Croatia, and to describe from experience how all of this affects development of a Croatian occupational therapy professional.
In order to gather the information, a qualitative questionnaire was conducted among 60 occupational therapy students, 30 interns and mentors. Results gave an insight into what needs to be changed with regard to past experience; and how important is the influence of mentorship for the whole process.
Based on the results, document was developed which is used as a position paper defining crucial context needed for occupational therapy internship and program development.