Optimizing fieldwork education for male student OT’s

This blog post was written by Donna Barker, Director of Clinical Education, Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, University of Toronto. 

As only 8.4% of practicing OT’s are male (CIHI, 2012), it is highly likely that the male OT student will be placed into a predominantly female fieldwork environment. Do male student OT’s have a different fieldwork learning experience than females because of their gender? Do they face unique challenges? How can the university, the preceptor, and the student himself ensure optimal fieldwork learning?

For the past eight years, the fieldwork team at the University of Toronto have been thinking about and researching these questions. From our research, it appears that male student OT’s do encounter unique, but definitely not insurmountable challenges in the fieldwork environment! 

The OT Now article, ‘The male occupationaltherapy student on fieldwork: Optimizing the experience’ outlines some of the issues faced by male student OT’s and gives students, preceptors, and university educators advice on how to approach potential roadblocks as successful fieldwork learning is the responsibility of all three of these education partners. 

Students: as adult learners, must understand their learning needs and be actively involved in the provision of learning experiences. 

The university: has a responsibility to prepare the male student OT for fieldwork learning, making them aware of potential challenges and strategies for dealing with those challenges and providing male role models and support networks.* 

The preceptor:  should be aware of the unique potential challenges of male student OT’s and teaching strategies to prevent or manage these challenges.  The following chart is meant to be a quick reference for the preceptor:

Potential Challenge on Fieldwork	Preceptor Approach
Unequal clinical opportunities	·         Provide a full variety of available learning opportunities.  Advocate for student participation in client care for both male and female clients ·         Offer to be present during assessment and intervention of female clients as required for sensitive self-care assessments ·         Be open to differing communication styles for the development of rapport with clients and team members (e.g. less emotional, more direct) ·         Be sensitive to how and when to introduce various learning opportunities ·         Be diligent about client consent to decrease possible accusations of misconduct
Feelings of isolation	·         Be aware of female-oriented conversation during work breaks that may be potentially isolating for the student ·         Allow opportunity for connections with other male employees and students ·         Encourage open communication regarding challenges during the fieldwork experience
Various assumptions and stereotypes	·         Don’t make assumptions about the use of tools, physical strength, topics of interest, etc. Recognize individual differences and preferences as you would any student OT.

                                                                                                                                                                       

For a more fulsome explanation of male student challenges and preceptor strategies, please refer to the OT Now article. 

Male OT’s add to the occupational therapy profession in many positive ways.  We need to provide a welcoming environment within our university OT programs and our fieldwork environments to ensure that our profession is one that provides equal opportunity and welcomes diversity and inclusion.  

* Lisa’s note:  We have been holding a “Guys only” session each fall for male OT students here at U of M since 2010.  This session is facilitated by two male OTs from our OT community.  I got the idea from the fieldwork team at U of T after attending the presentation "Addressing gender issues in clinical education: Turning the tide" (Barker, D., Stack, R., & Reed, N. ) at the 2010 CAOT annual conference in Halifax.

Thank you to Donna Barker for contributing to this blog!

References:

Barker, D., Stack, R. Jakubovic, R. & Reed, N.P. (2013). The male occupational therapy student on fieldwork: Optimizing the experience. Occupational Therapy Now. Vol.15(2).

Canadian Institute for Health Information (2012). Occupational Therapists in Canada; Occupational Therapist Workforce, 2012. Retrieved April 6, 2015 from https://secure.cihi.ca/estore/productSeries.htm?pc=PCC375