Introduction: Since its inception in 2015, the American Occupational Therapy Association Fellowship Program has continued to grow and expand. Currently, there are 71 approved fellowship programs in the US. The understanding of OT Fellowship Program and its outcomes is very limited.
Objectives: Through a case illustration, this presentation traces multiple health professions’ development of residencies/fellowships with a focus on OT, compares and reports the outcomes of fellowship graduates with OT program graduates. This presentation will add to the much needed literature and provide guidance to the development of OT fellowships.
Methods: A total of 32 OTD alumni and 11 fellowship graduates took part in the study and responded to a self-developed survey.
Results: Findings of the study suggested fellowship graduates demonstrated much improved practice and performance in the areas of advocacy, research and instruction in OT and/or OTA programs. Such differences reached statistically significant levels (<.05).
Conclusion: These promising findings reveal OT fellowships prepare, educate and train occupational therapists to better meet the growing demands of health care delivery and primary and direct access care. The occupational therapy fellowships need to continue incorporating skills beyond advanced clinical practice such as skills related to research, leadership and management, and entrepreneurship. As a profession, occupational therapy will need to continue to welcome and embrace the fellowship as an important milestone in the profession, study and implement best practices in fellowship programing and ensure and improve the quality of fellowship graduates to better meet the ever-increased complex health care needs of the society.