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Faculty-Led Virtual Level 1 Community Fieldwork During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Tiffany L. Benaroya, Margaret Swarbrick, Michelle Zechner, Ann A. Murphy, Meredith Cimmino

Journal of Occupational Therapy Education

Fieldwork is an integral portion of occupational therapy education that ensures students have the opportunity to develop basic competencies in real world practice settings. The national shortage of fieldwork placements, particularly in the area of mental health, in combination with the COVID-19 pandemic, have led to the adoption of increasingly innovative fieldwork models. This retrospective, qualitative study investigates occupational therapy assistant students’ experiences of completing a faculty-led (i.e. where faculty served as the primary fieldwork educator) and virtual (i.e., where services were offered in a virtual environment) Level I fieldwork with a community-based peer led behavioral health agency. Twenty-three students …