Student Recruitment and Selection for Occupational Therapy

The School of Occupational Therapy at the Cumberland College of Health Sciences has attempted to integrate the student recruitment and selection process with the curriculum objectives of a training programme for occupational therapists. This approach is based on the view that student selection is one component of a total interacting system of manpower development. The primary role of the occupational therapist and the skills required to fit that role were defined and used to rationalise a selection process aimed at producing an effective practitioner. There is a focus on increasing self selection by applicants. It is suggested that compulsory attendance at information sessions, personal/social factors assessed at interview and past academic record are effective measures for identifying students who would succeed in the occupational therapy curriculum. There is a need for further research in this area and the development of this selection process generates questions which may determine the direction of that research.