Abstract

The Occupational Therapy department at the University of the Pacific sought to custom-design the occupational therapy foundations course for entry-level occupational therapy doctorate (OTD) students. The first and second authors are occupational therapists with extensive experience in clinical practice as well as academia; the third author is an occupational scientist with broad experience in teaching both graduate and undergraduate professionals. Together they were recruited to design and co-teach the course. The course is consistent with the biopsychosocial philosophy that is the foundation for the curriculum design in the program and the overarching goal was to provide a broad lens on the centrality of occupation in human life. The course was offered for the first time during the spring 2021 term and included thirty-seven first year OTD students. Several assessment methods were used to evaluate students’ learning and understanding of the course content. A summative course assessment survey with comments was used at the end of the course. This article describes the model of the course design and the student feedback. This approach for designing a new course with integrated perspectives will be helpful to OTD programs seeking to equip entry-level occupational therapists for the complex work of today’s healthcare system. The authors will describe the course design, fit with the curriculum, implementation, and student feedback. The authors hope that sharing this course design will contribute toward informing OT education and meeting the needs of healthcare through the use of integrated professional perspectives.