Mentorship & Experiential Learning
Western’s MScOT program aims to make the path of education an experience of learning. Mentorships, therapeutic relationships and community development are examples of experiential learning that complement classroom learning. These experiential learning opportunities set students on a path to becoming occupational therapists who reflect, collaborate, engage in ethical practice, develop healthy therapeutic relationships and mobilize the transformative power of occupation.
Clinical Mentorship
- Provide an opportunity for student groups to learn and grow with the guidance of a clinician
- Complement classroom learning and fieldwork placements
- Provide a venue to ask about OT practice and the profession
- Help students prepare for and reflect on fieldwork experiences
Therapeutic Relationships
- Expose students to the lived experience of an individual with a disability or chronic illness who encounters barriers to carrying out their day-to-day occupations
- Create a venue for developing therapeutic relationships, an important aspect of occupational therapy
Community Development Project
- Allow students to contribute toward the goals of a community organization by carrying out a project involving assessing and addressing a need of the organization
- Involve team work, which is an integral part of being a successful occupational therapist
- Provide an opportunity for students to apply an occupation-based perspective to an organization, thereby benefitting the organization and its clientele and stakeholders
