Presentation
Choose Your Own Assignment: An Innovative Strategy for Teaching Clinical Decision Making
World Federation of Occupational Therapists
(2022)
Abstract
Introduction: Occupational therapists rely on their clinical reasoning skills to provide the best services to our clients. Reports from fieldwork supervisors indicate that students are well prepared to use selected assessment tools, but lack clinical decision making skills in choosing the appropriate tools. The purpose of this presentation is to describe an innovative approach to occupational therapy education to promote clinical decision making.
Objectives: By the end of this session participants will be able to design a clinical reasoning assignment using a decision tree model.
Approach: Inspired by the Choose Your Own Adventure book series (270 million books printed in 40 languages) in which the reader choses a path for the protagonist, students are tasked with making a series of clinical decisions to build a client’s story. Students are presented with a case study then begin the story by selecting an assessment tool. Each decision leads to new information that builds to a comprehensive evaluation. As students make correct decisions, they progress in the assignment while poor decisions have students backtrack, reassess, and make a better decision. In addition to the challenge of choosing a correct path, students must provide rationale for each decision by applying theory and evidence.
Practice Implications: After completing this assignment, students reported more confidence in making clinical decisions which may lead to better clinical reasoning in practice.
Conclusion: By engaging in clinical decisions making and being able to verbalize their rationale, students will be better prepared for fieldwork and their future clinical career.
Disciplines
Publication Date
Summer August 31, 2022
Location
Paris, Frane
Citation Information
Kimberley Persons. "Choose Your Own Assignment: An Innovative Strategy for Teaching Clinical Decision Making" World Federation of Occupational Therapists (2022) Available at: http://works.bepress.com/kimberley-persons/15/