Enhancing Professionalism Among OT Students: The Culture of Professionalism

Abstract

Occupational therapy (OT) students are likely to experience generational differences when interacting with faculty and clients. Each generational group has a shared culture and unique set of experiences that influence their behavior, expectations, and perceptions surrounding professionalism. When teaching professionalism to OT students, the cultural underpinnings and influences related to generational groups and their differences become important considerations. This manuscript explores the relationship between culture and professionalism and describes how generational culture influences professional behaviors. It presents a reflective process and guide developed by the authors to enhance professionalism and cultural effectiveness among OT students and guide them in meeting generational expectations related to professionalism.

What is Professionalism in Occupational Therapy? A Concept Analysis: Qu’est-ce que le professionnalisme en ergothérapie? Analyse de ce concept

“…This precision concerning antecedents of the concept is in line with the idea of a developmental understanding of professionalism (Reiter et al, 2018;Robinson et al, 2012;Sullivan & Thiessen, 2015); some prerequisites must first be acquired and must influence the possibilities of occupational therapists to develop and implement professionalism in their practice.…”

“…The analysis allowed one to understand that culture impacts on the antecedents, attributes, and consequences of professionalism. The literature proposes that different cultural aspects may influence professionalism such as the societal ( Wood, 2004 ), individual ( Davys et al, 2006 ; Wood, 2004 ), generational ( Reiter et al, 2018 ), or organizational ( Burford et al, 2014 ) aspects of culture. As an example, Reiter et al (2018) have suggested differences in how occupational therapists of “various generations interpret and display [professional] behaviours” (p. 3).…”

“…The literature proposes that different cultural aspects may influence professionalism such as the societal (Wood, 2004), individual (Davys et al, 2006;Wood, 2004), generational (Reiter et al, 2018), or organizational (Burford et al, 2014) aspects of culture. As an example, Reiter et al (2018) have suggested differences in how occupational therapists of "various generations interpret and display [professional] behaviours" (p. 3). Another example concerning the individual aspect of culture was provided by Davys et al (2006) as they explained how personal presentation and appearance of occupational therapists may differ.…”

“…Occupational therapy associations and guidelines suggest the importance of developing professionalism amongst students and supporting the continuous development of professionalism during an individual’s career. However, published documents lack a definition of what professionalism means and how to develop it ( Reiter et al, 2018 ). This is in line with other works suggesting that professionalism is commonly assumed rather than clearly explained ( Bryden et al, 2010 ; van Mook et al, 2009 ).…”

“…This definition is aligned with the task-oriented paradigm of professionalism construction, which is based on a list of selected characteristics that are expected to be applied by professionals ( Colley et al, 2007 ). This paradigm allows occupational therapy students and new graduates to understand professionalism because of the concrete expectations it proposes ( Reiter et al, 2018 ). However, experienced occupational therapists may find it superficial because they have a more profound understanding of professionalism as they have had opportunities to internalize it ( Robinson et al, 2012 ).…”