MIROTS

As the deepening professional identity was identified as a key aim of the project, it was considered by the team to be an important outcome that required measurement. Professional identity is defined as the values, beliefs and attitudes that a group shares about the work they undertake (Adams et al 2006). It involves not only the perceptions of individuals within the group (Trede et al 2012) but is shaped by interactions with those outside the group (Turner and Knight 2015; Fortune 2000). Students in higher education health care programmes need to develop professional identity to become successful practitioners and prepare them for work.

Occupational Therapy as a professional group is relatively small and the variation between countries are huge. In many European countries there are less than 10 occupational therapists per 100.000 inhabitants, but in others there are more than 100 per 100.000 inhabitants. The core philosophies, paradigms and models in occupational therapy differ from the medical and biopsychosocial models that dominates the healthcare sector (Wilding and Whiteford 2008; Wilding and Whiteford 2007; Kinn and Aas 2009). Increasingly occupational therapists find themselves practicing in diverse areas of practice with groups and communities who are subject to occupational injustices. It is proposed that this presents challenges for students, novice and expert practitioners in describing their role and profession. Hence, it is of importance that educational institutions begin to consider how professional identity can be developed and supported during curricula.

Professional identity development is unlikely to be attributed to a single activity within curricula, it is multifaceted and dynamic. Earlier studies suggest that this is best done through practice placements, group work with peers, and discussions with educators. What seems to be common to all these experiences is the opportunities to reframe identities using a common language. Turner and Knight (2015) suggest that occupational therapists need to develop a community of practice through engaging in three strategies: 1) Ownership of a unique set of values and beliefs; 2) acceptance of a unique discourse and 3) reinforcement of the unique discourse through communities of practice. The three participating universities proposed that working together with small cohorts that share a common professional language, core philosophies and values may impact on the development of professional identity. To evaluate this the team reviewed psychometric tools and developed a new tool which sought to measure the impact of international activity on the development of professional identity. 

Tool Development and analysis

Following a review of the literature, it was concluded that there was not a suitable tool available but that two tools (Ashby et al 2016; Boehm et al 2015) addressed aspects of what it was wished to measure. Neither of these were psychometrically sound and neither covered all the areas that needed to be evaluated. It was decided to combine questions from both to develop an appropriate tool and to establish the psychometric properties of this. Ethical approval for the study was obtained. Questions from both questionnaires were combined and a four-point scale applied to all questions. The completed tool included some demographic information and details of additional relevant experience which could affect professional identity e.g. part time work, volunteering etc. The main body of the questionnaire addresses aspects of professional identity and a second section details the influence of enablers such as models of practice, Occupational Science, practice education, lecturers and clinical supervisors (appendix 6).

A pilot study was carried out with students who took part in the first exchange. The project planned to evaluate internal consistency and psychometric properties of the scale and then use it to evaluate if the physical and web-exchanges resulted in any change in professional identity for those who participated in them. In total 58 students completed the survey. Internal consistency of the scale was evaluated using Chronbach’s Alpha, the twenty-eight items yielded a Chronbach’s alpha of .775 the removal of 2 items improved internal consistency to Chronbach’s alpha of .807 indicating that the scale had very good internal consistency without these items. Factor analysis was then used to identify which items had most power to address the question of professional identity and what factors were more highly related. Questions identified as lowering internal consistency removed and results loaded on three factors. These were termed current personal professional identity, professional identity in practice and development of professional identity. The analysis was repeated including the two omitted items and these loaded onto a fourth factor confirming that they were inconsistent with the rest of the items on the scale. Particular facilitators to development of professional identity were occupation focused models (e.g. MOHO. PEOP), practice education, university-based educators, clinical occupational therapists, use of case studies and reflective practice.  On the other hand, self-directed learning, peers, group work and international learning activities were less frequently identified.

The process of developing this tool was presented at the Royal College of Occupational Therapists Conference, June 11-13^th, Belfast, UK.

• Truman, J., Collier, L., McGinley, S., Shiel, A., Fox, J., Hynes, S., Hills, C., Orban, K., & Ekstam, L. (2018). Professional identity – the key to professional survival? Designing a tool to measure the development of professional identity. Paper presented at the Royal College of Occupational Therapists Conference, June 11-13, Belfast, UK. Available from www.rcot.co.uk/abstracts2018

The tool which has been developed has been shown to have sound internal consistency and incorporates three factors. Reliability has yet to be established as it was not possible to test for reliability as the numbers returned were too low. The data gathered thus far suggests that this will be a useful tool to track the development of professional identity as students progress through an occupational therapy programme or in relation to specific modules e.g. practice education.

1. Approximately how many weeks of field work have you completed? ___________________

2. Please tick the areas of practice you have completed (you may tick more than one):

3. Please indicate any current and/or past work experiences that are relevant to your current studies?

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4. What was the main influence(s) in your decision to become an occupational therapist?(please tick as many as apply)

1. Please rate the following statements on a scale of 1-4 (1=Strongly disagree, 2=Disagree, 3=Agree, 4=Strongly agree)

    

1. Please rate the following statements on a scale of 1-4 (1=Strongly disagree, 2=Disagree, 3=Agree, 4=Strongly agree). At this point in my education I feel equipped to:

    

1. Please select your responses to the following statements

    

1. Please rate your level of agreement/disagreement with the following statements, how have the following statements  in your program enhanced your development as a professional.