Coursework & Fieldwork Finding field work placements

[DMStudiezOT]

I know I have plenty of time, but I will be required to find my own field work placements as I will be commuting almost 2 hours to school; I am in a hybrid program so the commute is very doable. However, because of this I hope to find my own field work placements beginning next spring. My questions are, how early did you begin to look for field work placements and were you able to negotiate your own schedule? I will still be working my full time job until summer 2017 because I took out tuition assistance with them and am under a contract. I really would only be able to do one day a week or just a couple hours multiple days a week, but I understand I am at their mercy. Does anyone have any similar experiences that can help me for next year? This will be an LI so I only need 40 hours total.

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[beestrng]

I know I have plenty of time, but I will be required to find my own field work placements as I will be commuting almost 2 hours to school; I am in a hybrid program so the commute is very doable. However, because of this I hope to find my own field work placements beginning next spring. My questions are, how early did you begin to look for field work placements and were you able to negotiate your own schedule? I will still be working my full time job until summer 2017 because I took out tuition assistance with them and am under a contract. I really would only be able to do one day a week or just a couple hours multiple days a week, but I understand I am at their mercy. Does anyone have any similar experiences that can help me for next year? This will be an LI so I only need 40 hours total.

School should find your sites. Even the flex program ones. My school has one and finds sites all the time.

If your school does not do that, I feel that SNFs are very open to fieldwork. Especially level 2s.

For my level 1s it was spread out 2 weeks. The OT never gave me a choice with timing. They are doing the student a favor as we will slow them down probably impacting their productivity requirements if any.

 

[mangoslush]

I know I have plenty of time, but I will be required to find my own field work placements as I will be commuting almost 2 hours to school; I am in a hybrid program so the commute is very doable. However, because of this I hope to find my own field work placements beginning next spring. My questions are, how early did you begin to look for field work placements and were you able to negotiate your own schedule? I will still be working my full time job until summer 2017 because I took out tuition assistance with them and am under a contract. I really would only be able to do one day a week or just a couple hours multiple days a week, but I understand I am at their mercy. Does anyone have any similar experiences that can help me for next year? This will be an LI so I only need 40 hours total.

That's interesting--I was under the impression that students were not allowed to find fieldwork sites on their own behalf. There was a shortage of fieldwork sites at my school and when I contacted places to inquire if they took students, about 90% didn't reply and the other 10% asked why I was contacting them, and told me it was the responsibility of the fieldwork coordinator to match students. I hope you have better luck than I did!

 

[DMStudiezOT]

I do have a field work coordinator but the school is contracted with specific sites around the area. Since I live 2 hours away, I will have to do a lot of work assisting my field work coordinator to find a place close to where I live. Since I want to try to get a specific schedule, I also feel like it should be more my responsibility to find them. I understand I may need to quite my job to do this, but I'd like to avoid paying back the 8k I would have to pay them back by doing so.

 

[beestrng]

That's interesting--I was under the impression that students were not allowed to find fieldwork sites on their own behalf. There was a shortage of fieldwork sites at my school and when I contacted places to inquire if they took students, about 90% didn't reply and the other 10% asked why I was contacting them, and told me it was the responsibility of the fieldwork coordinator to match students. I hope you have better luck than I did!

I think students cant do a fieldwork at a place they worked before. It may just be school specific.

 

[sngot]

You will have to call up specific sites and inquire if they are willing to take a student. If they can confirm that they are willing, then you will connect your fieldwork coordinator with the point of contact. The annoying thing is that every place has a different process and demand. Some places simply inquire the rehabilitation department while other needs to go through human resources. Level I will be much easier than Level II. It is true that the fieldwork coordinator is suppose to match students. If they ask, simply state that you are trying to find the appropriate person for your fieldwork coordinator to contact. I did this to land my Level II placement.

Find places that are weekends are more hours of availability might increase their flexibility with you. Level I also does not require an OT supervisor based on AOTA requirements. Your school has their on requirement and that is something you should discuss with your fieldwork coordinator.