Below are links to resources to help you develop a student program, as well as to support your own development as a clinical educator. We recommend you start with the University of Minnesota OT Program Overview to learn more about our curriculum and student preparation for Level II Fieldwork.
Student Experiential Learning Handbook
This handbook (PDF) provides the information that students receive regarding the format and structure for fieldwork within the Occupational Therapy Program.
- AOTA FW Education Resources
- Fieldwork Educators Certificate Workshop
- Sample Level II FW Student Objectives (PDF)
- Sample Level II FW Weekly Student Activities:
- Sample Student Weekly Meeting Form: Weekly Feedback Form
- HIPAA Guidelines for Fieldwork (PDF)
- Understanding the AOTA Student Fieldwork Performance Evaluations
- ACOTE C Standards FAQs
- University of Minnesota OTD Minimum Technical Standards
- University of Western Ontario Preceptor Education Program: This is a free online training program for clinical educators of health professions students and is applicable to OT fieldwork. Registration is required.
- New England Occupational Therapy Education Council: This is a consortium of OT programs in New England with resources for clinical educators.
Level II Fieldwork Objectives
Level II fieldwork objectives include goals addressing individual, community or population intervention, analyzing alignment between evaluation and intervention, having students identify evidence to support intervention, and students being able to demonstrate clinical reasoning and performance when onsite. We place students in a variety of settings identified by age group served and then by AOTA setting type for Level II experiences The objectives for Level II fieldwork are organized around the program's curricular threads and then collaborated with the site fieldwork educator to be aligned with the experience and the AOTA Fieldwork Performance Evaluation (FWPE).
By the end of Level II experience, students will:
Lifespan Occupations
Identify and implement in their placement setting opportunities for individual and community OR population interventions.
Build and Use Evidence
Analyze the alignment of the evaluation process of their placement and the AOTA Occupational Profile, including psychological, social, and behavioral health factors that are influencing occupational performance to guide intervention for the service recipient.
Generalist Practice
Demonstrate therapeutic use of self as part of the therapeutic process to address psychological, social, and behavioral health factors that are influencing occupational participation in your setting.
Apply clinical reasoning in the OT Process in your setting.
Articulate how the fieldwork program reflects and builds upon prior knowledge from the University of Minnesota occupational therapy program.
Innovative Leaders
Collaborate on intra-professional and inter-professional teams while in the fieldwork setting.
Number of Sites
The University of Minnesota Program in Occupational Therapy has over 500 affiliation agreements that are sufficient in scope and number for populations across the lifespan (child & youth, adult, older adult, and mental health), across individual, community, and/or population based practice, and in traditional and emerging practice settings. The Director of Experiential Learning provides an ongoing examination of sites to ensure the scope and number are sufficient across both performance sites.
Timing of Level II Fieldwork
All experiential components of the curriculum must be completed within 24 months following the completion of semester 6 of the didactic portion of the curriculum. All experiential learning may be completed at locations across the State of Minnesota. Level II fieldwork experiences are completed in a minimum of 2, 12 week placements, for a total of 24 weeks. Level II fieldwork occurs in semester 7 and 8 in the program.