The Occupational Therapist as a Clinical Teacher

When clinicians are asked to supervise students in fieldwork placements, it is often assumed that they have the skills to instruct the student in clinical methods and accurately evaluate the student's clinical competence. Many therapists feel ill-equipped in this role. This paper describes the components of clinical competence and the characteristics of a good clinical teacher. Three methods of clinical teaching or evaluation (record review, case discussion and direct observation) will be discussed and their application to evaluation of student performance illustrated. Since clinical competence is multi-dimensional, no one tool will adequately evaluate the range of competencies required. Clinicians can be better prepared as clinical teachers if they possess a repertoire of approaches on which to draw for specific areas of clinical competence.