Coursework & Fieldwork Acute care vs. inpatient rehab OT setting fieldwork/career?

[OTD2020]

Hello!

So I am very early into my OT program but we are being asked to provide some insight into what we currently think would be an ideal setting (nothing set in stone, just to get an idea).

I'm torn between acute care and inpatient rehab right now. I like the idea of being able to stick with patients and watch them progress, but I also am drawn to the high medical component and fast pace of acute care. I also anticipate learning a lot in acute care and really want to pick up on as much as I can in fieldwork/as a new grad.

Would I be able to do an level II in both, or do you think they would be too similar and it would be best to do only one of them and something else (like pediatrics or outpatient)? I What other pros/cons are there to acute care vs inpatient rehab? (personal experience, job demands, availability, pay, etc)?

Thanks in advance!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[sngot]

This is actually a really good conversation to have with your Fieldwork Coordinator. They not only know what is beneficial for your own personal trajectory but also know what sites are feasible. Depending on how big the fieldwork site is you may be isolated to a specific setting or you can transition across different ones within the hospital. During my experience in acute care, I mostly stayed in that setting but my fieldwork supervisor made sure that I have an opportunity to learn from the intensive care unit and inpatient rehabilitation as well.

I think you are on the right track. Acute care will get you a broad range of complications, occupational profile, and gets you really good with the evaluation process. Inpatient rehabilitation will build upon your intervention and patient skills that acute care will only do superficially. Different schools will have different guidelines. In my specific school, no one was forced to do pediatrics but everyone has to do at least one adult. Your experience with level I may also impact the way you pursue your level IIs. If you are open to pediatrics or outpatient, then I would swap inpatient for pediatrics or outpatient to get the broader range. Outpatient will also build upon intervention and patient building skills. Outpatient will work on more advance instrumental activities of daily living to work more on home access and community integration. Inpatient, recently transferred from acute, may still by building upon their more rudimentary activities of daily living so they can transition home.

 

[MrTL]

It's interesting how schools differ in their approaches to level II FW. I heard some schools have students do one of their level II FW right after their first year of didactics and then their other one after their second year. At SJSU, we do both our FWII after two years of didactic learning, but having a FWI experience and several off- and on-site hands-on practicum experiences (which I guess are also considered level I FW). We are also required to have to do one of our FWII settings in physical disabilities and the other one in psychosocial.

So, like you, I love acute care! After my interviews with the sites, I was able to land an acute care in a psych unit of a general hospital and then my other site at another hospital is acute care focusing on physdis. For the physdis one, it seemed like they were open to me exploring other areas of OT in the hospital until I was prepared for a full caseload, so that was cool. But as @sngot said, you'll really become a generalist in your program and might want to explore other avenues of practice.

Hope this gives you some insight!