OTs develop and support sustainable practices, managing caseloads, allocating resources, and demonstrating accountability to the public and funders for contributing to effective client programs and services that enable participation through occupation. OTs must manage time, prioritize, and support the management of effective and efficient practice. OTs are skilled in supervision, support and mentorship of other OTs.
Practice Manager
My Experience...
During my first fieldwork experience, it was important to be able to keep up with the fast paced environment. There was only one OT responsible for a large geographic area, and her list of referrals was pages long. Throughout the work setting, there was a method of prioritizing clients that was based on safety risks and having a status of being palliative. When watching my preceptor take the role of practice manager, really deepened my knowledge about how to manage, prioritize, and support, effective and efficient practice. I really admired how well she was able to manage such a large caseload and be able to provide client-centered assessments and interventions and then discharge efficiently. I am grateful that I will be able to implement the skills and tools I learned that are necessary for working in a fast-pace working environment into my future career.
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In my second placement, I started to implement what I had learned from my first placement’s fast-pace nature. Due to this placement being a role-emerging, it was an opportunity for me to learn to manage my time and to prioritize what would happen with the students within an 8-week time frame. I learned immensely from this learning opportunity from determining what would take place each day, to being responsible and efficient with organizing and developing interventions, as well as scheduling community organizations to speak to the students. This fieldwork experience was a great opportunity for me to better understand what it takes to be an efficient and effective practice manager that I will be able to bring with me into the future.
Within the next 3 years of practice, I would like to continue to develop and build upon the practice manager competency, to be a mentor to a OT student in their fieldwork opportunity helping them to pave their way through their learning experiences to become a future OT.