Submission ID 77601
| Code | OH-1-1 |
|---|---|
| At the end of this workshop, participants will be able to: | |
| Category | Medical Education |
| Type | Oral |
| Will the presenter be a: | Early Career Faculty - (Less than 7 years of practice) |
| Title | Challenges and Opportunities to Change Agency Competencies Development: the Case of One Canadian Occupational Therapy Program |
| Background/Purpose | Practice and societal contexts are increasingly complex and require health professionals to act as agents of change. However, university programs appear to have difficulty supporting the development of change agency competencies. Indeed, few professionals feel competent to act as change agents, particularly new practitioners. Identifying challenges and opportunities for programs is thus needed. This innovation project documents the challenges relative to change agency teaching in one Canadian occupational therapy program (OTP) and explore possible opportunities. |
| Methods | Two 90-minute semi-structured focus groups were conducted online: one with ten members of the teaching team and the other with six current or past students of the OTP. Participants were questioned on challenges influencing change agency competencies and what could help improve their development. Focus groups were recorded and transcribed, and data were thematically analyzed. |
| Results | Challenges are: the rigid structure of the OTP and its focus on biomedical content; the lack of human and financial resources impacting on time available to teach and assess change agency competencies; and the preponderance of practicums without change agency learning opportunities. Opportunities include: longitudinal teaching of the role, starting from the beginning of the program, and the deliberate planning of varied activities and approaches to feedback and assessment. Finally, experiential learning was recognized as an effective instructional strategy. |
| Discussion | Not only are they pedagogically relevant, suggested opportunities are aligned with faculties' social responsibility mission. Results offer university programs food for thought about how to better support their students' acquisition of change agency competencies. |
| Keyword 1 | change agency |
| Keyword 2 | competencies development |
| Keyword 3 | occupational therapy |
| Abstract content most relevant to: (check all that apply) | Residency Education
Undergraduate Medical Education Other |
| Abstract Track - First Choice | Leadership |
| Authors | Tim Dubé Annie Carrier Tim Dubé Étienne Lavoie-Trudeau Michaël Beaudoin |
