The development of an authentic professional identity on role-emerging placements

Introduction: Role-emerging placements are increasingly used to help occupational therapy students develop the skills, knowledge, and attributes needed to become the therapists of tomorrow, Whilst literature on role-emerging placements is growing, studies have tended to be general placement evaluations, with only a limited number exploring students' experiences in detail. Method: This study used interpretative phenomenological analysis to gain a deeper understanding of how five MSc pre-registration occupational therapy students experienced and ascribed meaning to their role-emerging placements. Findings: The role-emerging placements acted as a strong catalyst for the students' ontological development (that is, their understanding of self and development of ways of being and enacting occupational therapy practice). Through engaging in challenging and autonomous learning experiences, students developed deeper insights into who they were becoming as professionals, leading to a professional identity of their own making. Conclusion: Having to continually reflect on and verbalize the core essence and contribution of occupational therapy, students developed clarity of understanding about the uniqueness of the profession. This is important in light of the historical difficulty occupational therapists have had in articulating their unique role and professional identity.