A longitudinal study on the transformation of 15 occupational therapist students' paradigms into occupational therapists' paradigms

Background and Aim:  This study describes the transformation of 15 occupational therapist students' paradigms into occupational therapists' paradigms according to Törnebohm's theory of paradigms over a period of 6 years. This research particularly considers the paradigm components world view and field of action view in Törnbohm's sense.
Method:  Qualitative data were collected using essay questions on three occasions: first week and last semester at the Occupational Therapy Programme at the School of Health Sciences, Jönköping, Sweden, and after 3 years of occupational therapy practice. A content analysis of the collected materials was performed.
Conclusion:  The transformation of the informants' views could be characterised as comprising three different perspectives: a 'public' view in 1995, a 'theoretical' view in 1998 and an 'experiential/contextual' view in 2001.