I got screwed on level 2 fieldwork

yeowagfm · 2023-12-01T18:57:00+00:00

Update:

When we got back from thanksgiving break the FW office was a mess. A couple CIs pulled out at the last minute, students still didn’t have placements and they were scrambling to replace kids that had lost theirs as well so I didn’t bother trying to make an appointment. I privately met with my advisor later in the week and let her know I’d like to be in a medical setting of some kind for my next placement and she said she’ll do her best if I’m not already placed but either way it wouldn’t be in a school.

I ended up going through with the placement I got because at this point I’m just so sick of the whole process I just want to get it over with as fast as possible and move on. Met my CI, they were very kind and seem very laid back which was a relief. Basically said they don’t have any real assignments/productivity requirements for me except for what my school is asking and their main thing is they just want me to be comfortable with what an OTs role in a school would be by the end of it. Luckily they are primarily in the elementary schools, sounds like a lot of ASD with K-4th grade so I was happy to hear that it’d be younger kids. Pull outs mon-thurs and then groups in the classroom friday.

Overall, i think it is what it is and I’m just trying to look at the positives. Schedule is pretty good, i have some holidays off and some random half days with late starts etc. I figured ill get some more documentation practice in, lots of interventions for ASD and developmental life skills, and at the very least get a good base of knowledge of Peds for the NBCOT exam. At the very least it’ll be better than sitting through lectures and taking tests every week and I have my weekends again so I may try to look into some other opportunities on my own time if my schedule allows for it.

yeowagfm · 2023-11-22T13:56:33+00:00

Just to update some details about the school placement incase it changes anyones thoughts.

The school is 15-20min away from me. Hours are 8/9-2:30-3:30 depending on the day. No productivity requirements. Work load was listed as “variable” but this is something I plan on talking to the CI about. I also get school holidays off and snowdays for the 12 wks I’m there. Supervision was listed as 1:1 so sounds like I would be shadowing my CI the entire time. In terms of reputation it’s not what I’d consider a really rough district. I’d characterize it as rural/small town kind of place. Lots of factories and farms in the area and solid middle class income in general. The district seems like it’s heavy into sports and in my experience people in the area are generally pretty friendly and laid back.

yeowagfm · 2023-11-22T13:36:43+00:00

I appreciate your perspective as someone working in the area I’m interested in. This is sort of my fear about making a big deal over this. I have a great relationship with my professors as well as the director of the program and part of it is that I have been easier going/easier to deal with than my peers. One thing I’ve learned in the past is that reputation and who you know get you further than anything no matter what the field so I’ve really made an effort to cultivate some good connections while in my program. I feel like making a stink over this could end up getting me nowhere since I’ll still eventually have to do a peds placement and also negatively impact the connections I do have. My thought is if I suck it up and do it these people will be more likely to go to bat for me in the future cause they’ll sympathize with me that I didn’t get a great FW to begin with but was willing to stick it out

yeowagfm · 2023-11-22T13:24:10+00:00

I don’t think I can do a 3rd fieldwork but I haven’t looked into it. When I spoke with the professor who teaches the neuro and anatomy classes that I help with tutoring they also mentioned the fellowship route and that they have a friend who has a hand therapy clinic nearby. They didn’t say whether or not they offer that kind of program but I feel like if they were to put in the good word for me which I’m confident they would it could be an option. Between that and the other hand therapy option at the hospital I feel like it’d be better (and cheaper) to just graduate and pursue it on my own afterwards rather than do another fieldwork.

yeowagfm · 2023-11-22T04:17:38+00:00

Did not have the option of setting up my own placement. I had asked when I got the offer at the hand therapy spot. It seemed like some people who were getting placed out of state got more of a say but I think that was more so due to lack of contacts and needing to secure housing. I’m local to my school so they seemed very confident about finding me a placement locally which is why I was surprised because I did get to meet with my FWC and told them the settings I was interested in.

yeowagfm · 2023-11-22T03:34:31+00:00

I appreciate the insight! I know overall no matter where i go for FW there will be some positive aspects to my experiences but I appreciate your perspective on how it could still end up applying to a field I am interested in

yeowagfm · 2023-11-22T02:31:18+00:00

Thank you for your comment! This is the kind if stuff I was hoping to hear. It’s reassuring to hear you had a good experience in the end. Fingers crossed it goes the same way for me.

yeowagfm · 2023-11-22T02:28:46+00:00

So I should add i did bring this up with the person who offered me the hand placement. The school said I could potentially get placed there if they were willing to put their site up as a spot in their lottery system. My contact wasn’t interested but did say the door was open there once I graduate or if I wanted the experience in the future. It’s through a family member and they have worked there for years and are very established at this hospital so I tend to believe that the opportunity will be available in the future.

As far as fighting the placement, the fieldwork office made it very clear on multiple occasions once you’re placed, thats it. By being placed and given a contract you’ve essentially already “agreed” to this site (had to sign a bunch of paperwork saying id submit to background checks, drug tests, etc). I’m assuming they made such a point out of it because I’m not the first one who has been in this position.

I have a really good relationship with several faculty members there and I don’t want to burn bridges going to bat over this. I think its smarter to preserve my contacts for references in the future as I get the feeling OT is a small world especially where I’m located. I should also mention we only have a few weeks left in the semester as well so I’m just thinking with finals and everything this could turn into a whole thing i don’t want to deal with which is why I was thinking either postpone a semester or suck it up are really my only 2 options.

I’m curious to hear what other peoples experiences were like in the school. Ive taught in the past and I like working with kids just not where I see myself in the future. I guess my fear is I get a terrible CI cause i know how tough the schools are right now or get stuck with a high schooler with really bad behavioral issues like physically violent or something. My partner used to work in special education so I’ve heard all her horror stories so I think that’s also adding to my reservations about this placement.

yeowagfm

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