USC-PKUHSC Dual-Degree OTD Monthly Seminars: Fall 2022 Semester Recap
December 14, 2022

Some of the more challenging difficulties students studying abroad have to overcome are related to cultural and language barriers. The USC-PKUHSC dual-degree students are no exception, and these concerns were magnified during the clinical portion of their time at USC. Due to the significant contrast in the context of occupational therapy (OT) practice between China and the United States, the China Initiative (CI) team felt it was imperative to support the students during this experience. As such, the CI team began delivering monthly seminars to the first cohort of dual-degree OTD students in Summer 2022. Each seminar delivered useful and unique content for the students to take with them, not just during their clinical experience but also in their careers as a whole. Given the success and impact of these seminars, they were carried over to the 2nd cohort of students, beginning as early as their first semester in Fall 2022.

The first seminar served as an introductory session and shared with the students what the format of the seminars would be, as well as focused on preparing the students for their clinical residencies. Students and instructors discussed how to best communicate with their preceptors and clients by being mindful of how to approach certain guidelines, boundaries, and the use of translation services. The team also discussed developing and being mindful of individualized learning objectives for their clinical residencies. In addition, students signed up for case presentations to share about their experiences at their sites and there was a formal check-in on how each of the students was doing as they transitioned to their new journey at USC Chan.

The second seminar was the first session in which the dual-degree students shared a case presentation. For these presentations, each student shared to the group a client profile and their respective intervention plan based on observations from their clinical residencies. From there, they led a discussion to enhance the group’s understanding of the clinical reasoning behind how the patient’s occupational challenges and goals were addressed within the context of OT. The China Initiative team felt that addressing clinical reasoning was an important element to include in the seminars, as it enhanced the students’ understanding of the scope and impact of OT in different settings.

The third seminar took a deep dive into fieldwork supervision from a practitioner and administrative perspective. The students learned about the importance of OT academic fieldwork’s adherence to Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE) standards. The team also covered methods of delivering OT fieldwork experiences by exploring supervision models and learning styles. Lastly, students discussed utilization of fieldwork performance evaluations (FWPE) and how they enhance the continued growth and development of fieldwork students as future clinicians.

The final seminar played an important role in beginning to bridge the dual-degree students’ current activities here in the Post-Professional OTD program at USC and their future work in China. The team opened discussions about looking ahead to what their careers would look like in China when it comes to job opportunities and paths to leadership. The team also shared how the students’ residency experiences have been configured and optimized to prepare for their future roles, based on feedback from their faculty mentors at PKUHSC and Cohort 1 dual-degree students. Overall, the seminars proved once again to be an invaluable learning experience for the dual-degree students, and the China Initiative team will continue to hold these seminars in Spring and Summer 2023 to provide them ongoing support.

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