cOnnecT with an International Fieldwork Experience

Megan Shields & Jenny Quilty, MOT Class of 2014

This entry is from Megan Shields and Jenny Quilty, class of 2014. They completed an international fieldwork placement in Sri Lanka.

International fieldwork placements (IFP) in developing countries can often be a controversial topic. Many people ask questions such as what happens once you leave, do the people want you there, can’t you help marginalized people right here in Canada? These questions continually crossed our minds before embarking on an IFP, however the perceived benefits, our previous experiences overseas, and reflections on the foundations of occupational therapy all contributed to our decision to go abroad.

Reflecting on our personal and professional values before departing from Canada we were able to learn more than expected both about our role as foreign students on a short term placement, and as occupational therapy students in a location without an occupational therapist.

We  would like to share the following for future students about the skills and experiences gained during an IFP:

• You will self-direct your learning and potentially see many clients with unfamiliar conditions
•  It is not a vacation
•  You will be challenged to be flexible, beyond what you can imagine from any other placement as you may not have a set schedule, set appointments, or know who may arrive at any given time
• You will learn and develop skills that only come from being completely out of your comfort zone, without common resources and materials
•  An IFP is an excellent opportunity to step outside your personal boundaries, be creative and develop a greater understanding of who you are as a therapist

What we  want future employers/supervisors to know about the skills and experiences gained during IFP:

• We understand the importance of hearing the client’s perspective and have had a strong reminder that we can not make any assumptions regarding our clients
• IFP’s foster the skills required to become a lifelong learner and to independently find resources, answers, and evidence to support interventions when you don’t always have the information or guidance right in front of you.
• We reflect, reflect, reflect, and continue to identify areas for future learning and growth
•  IFP teaches students to communicate across a vast variety of barriers such as language, cultural understanding, vision &/or sight, and sometimes all of the above.

Overall, an IFP will be challenging as you are often applying unfamiliar skills in new settings. It is also pertinent that as students you recognize what will be sustainable once you leave your placement and clients. We found this to be the greatest challenge of all, but it also turned out to be one of the greatest learning experiences from our IFP. We learnt that in many situations returning to the basics of OT and addressing the critical environmental, personal, or occupational barriers to occupational performance can have the largest impact. We learnt that listening to our clients without making assumptions about how they perform occupations or what resources they have allowed us to make valuable recommendations without placing a cultural or financial burden on them. We would have truly loved to see each client’s progress or be available to assist them in the future, however we left knowing that we provided what we could, when we could, and that we consciously made an effort to provide each client with toolkits to guide their own progress in the future to direct their own care when OT services were no longer available.

-This submission was reprinted with permission from the UBC OT Fieldwork Education Blog (June 8, 2014)