Fieldwork Selection
Process of Choosing Required Fieldworks

The fieldwork coordinator meets with all Year 1 students in the late fall or spring semester of their first year. At that time, the coordinator talks with students about the purpose of the fieldwork experience and presents guidelines to assist students in making fieldwork choices. A lottery method is used to give equal opportunity for all students to choose fieldwork experiences. At this meeting, each students name will be drawn; the student who is number one will have first choice of the facility he/she selected, and so forth, down the list of students.

Students are advised that they will have the opportunity to sign up with the fieldwork coordinator for a one hour time period, to be shared among six students. At this time, students will be given a handout which lists the facilities where the UND Occupational Therapy Department presently sends students for fieldwork experiences in psychiatry and physical disabilities, and a handout listing those sites where advance reservations have been made. During this time students might also ask questions regarding information in the fieldwork manuals or student letter books to further clarify the types of learning experiences available at various facilities.

Following the small group meetings with the fieldwork coordinator, students are encouraged to access further information on fieldwork sites in the fieldwork manuals. Notebooks of past students fieldwork letters are also available to students for more information.

Once all students have had an opportunity to meet with the fieldwork coordinator and have read the fieldwork manuals, the students will sign up, in order of their lottery number, to meet with the fieldwork coordinator for a 10 minute time period. The students need to bring 2 request forms from both the psychosocial and physical fieldworks and should have filled out the form with the top three choices for each experience. In addition, the student should bring a typed copy of his/her personal data sheet. The fieldwork coordinator will periodically post the fieldwork choices that are made, so that students with high numbers are aware of which fieldwork centers are open and which are taken.

After all the students have met individually with the fieldwork coordinator and have made their choices, the fieldwork coordinator sends a signed official Fieldwork Request Form, to the fieldwork supervisor in a given center. If the supervisor can accommodate the student, the form is returned to UND bearing the signature of that supervisor. Once the form is signed by both the UND fieldwork coordinator and the facilities fieldwork supervisor, the agreement is binding. Changes can be made only by appeal to the fieldwork committee.

Many centers have procedures for accepting student which include an interview or completion of Level I fieldwork at that facility. In this case the fieldwork contract is assumed when the facilities requirements have been met.