Using AI to Build Fieldwork Readiness in Occupational Therapy Education
Fieldwork is where occupational therapy students begin translating classroom learning into real-world clinical practices. It is also where many students encounter the demands of clinical decision making in complex environments.
Throughout occupational therapy education, students learn theory, assessment, intervention planning, evidence-based practice, professional communication, and professional reasoning. During fieldwork, they must integrate that knowledge while working with clients who have differing diagnoses, goals, environments, precautions, and lived experiences.
That transition can feel challenging. A 2024 study from the Mass General Brigham University of Health Professions explored how generative artificial intelligence (AI) could be incorporated into occupational therapy education to help students prepare for fieldwork while strengthening their ability to critically evaluate AI-generated clinical ideas. The study was authored by Tara Mansour, OTD, MS-HPEd, OTR/L, an assistant professor and academic fieldwork coordinator in the entry-level Doctor of Occupational Therapy program, and John Wong, PhD, an associate professor in the School of Nursing and the Department of Occupational Therapy.
Rather than teaching students to rely on ChatGPT for intervention planning, the learning activity asked students to generate ideas with AI and then critically evaluate through the lenses of evidence, ethics, safety, client-centered care, and professional reasoning.
Why Fieldwork Readiness Matters
Level II fieldwork is a full-time clinical experience in which occupational therapy students develop their skills under the supervision of occupational therapy practitioners. It is an important transition point in an OT student’s development as they begin integrating academic knowledge with the realities of clinical practice.
One common challenge is intervention planning. Students may understand OT principles but still struggle to generate a range of possible interventions for an individual client. Fieldwork educators often expect students to generate creative, occupation-based interventions, but students entering fieldwork may not yet have a broad repertoire of treatment ideas to draw from. They can spend considerable cognitive effort simply deciding what to do during a session, leaving less capacity to focus on safety, build therapeutic rapport, provide the just-right challenge, and adapt the intervention when the situation changes.
This is where AI may help. Generative AI maybe be useful by helping students move beyond the “blank page” and consider a broader range of possibilities. However, the educational value does not come simply from generating more ideas. It comes from requiring students to question those ideas, determine whether they are appropriate, and defend their clinical decisions.
How Students Used ChatGPT
In the study, entry-level occupational therapy doctoral students used ChatGPT 3.5 in a fieldwork seminar before starting full-time clinical placements.
Students first watched a faculty demonstration using ChatGPT to generate intervention ideas for a case study. One of the AI-generated recommendations was intentionally selected because it was contraindicated for the client. This gave students an opportunity to see firsthand that AI can produce recommendations that sound plausible while still being unsafe or inappropriate within a specific clinical context.
Then students completed an assignment using ChatGPT with a different case study. They generated intervention ideas, examined the recommendations, consulted evidence-based resources, and determined whether they would use, modify, or reject each suggestion.
Students did not simply ask AI for treatment ideas and accept the response. They were required to explain their clinical decisions and support their reasoning. In this way, AI became the starting point for critical analysis rather than a substitute for clinical thinking.
What the Study Found
Students reported a significant increase in comfort using ChatGPT to generate occupational therapy intervention ideas, along with a significant increase in their knowledge of ethical and safety considerations related to AI use in healthcare.
Students described ChatGPT as helpful for generating ideas quickly, supporting creativity, and reducing the cognitive effort involved in early treatment planning. Many students also believed AI could improve efficiency in the intervention planning process.
Students also identified important limitations. Some felt that AI-generated recommendations were too general or did not adequately account for the individual client, reinforcing the need for students to use their own clinical reasoning to determine whether a suggestion is appropriate.
An important finding was that students became more comfortable engaging with AI while simultaneously developing greater awareness of its limitations and risks. This combination is essential. The goal of AI education is not simply greater adoption of the technology, but more informed, critical, and responsible use.
Preparing OT Students for the Future
AI is increasingly becoming part of healthcare, education, documentation, communication, and clinical workflows. Occupational therapy students therefore need opportunities to learn not only how to use these technologies, but how to evaluate them critically and determine when their use is appropriate.
This study demonstrates one way faculty can create those opportunities before students enter full-time clinical practice. Generative AI can provide material for students to analyze while faculty intentionally structure learning around ethics, safety, evidence-based practice, client-centered care, and clinical reasoning.
Fieldwork readiness is ultimately about much more than selecting an intervention. Students must understand why an intervention is appropriate, recognize when it is not, adapt it to the needs of the individual, and explain how it supports participation in meaningful daily life.
Used thoughtfully, generative AI can become one tool for helping students develop those skills. The goal is not to prepare occupational therapists who depend on AI, but to prepare reflective, skilled, and compassionate practitioners who can critically evaluate emerging technologies and use them responsibly in service of their clients.
Contributing faculty member, Dr. Tara Mansour, has over 23 years of clinical experience. She has transitioned into academia, where she champions progressive educational methodologies and interdisciplinary collaboration in occupational therapy and clinical education, along with overseeing fieldwork education. Dr. John Wong currently teaches nursing and occupational therapy students in research-related courses. He has over 50 publications in peer-reviewed journals and was a co-author of numerous peer-reviewed or invited presentations.
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