Occupational Therapy Practitioners' Expectations of Entry-Level Doctorate versus Master's Graduates

The dual-entry nature of occupational therapy has been a point of discussion for many years with explorations into the profession's support for the different degree programs and definitions of entry-level practice being the primary foci in the literature. There has been no comparison of the expectations of occupational therapy educators and practitioners of entry-level doctorate and master's students upon graduation despite differences in curricula and emphasis on advanced skills. This study utilized a descriptive quantitative survey to ask current educators and practitioners (n=124) to indicate their level of expectations of the two types of graduates for sixteen different clinical and professional skills and the level of expected mentorship upon graduation. Practitioners held the two groups of new graduates to the same expectations in all categories and anticipated they would need the same level of mentorship upon graduation. Despite equal expectations in all categories, there were six categories where at least 30% of participants indicated they held higher expectations of entry-level doctorate new graduates. These categories aligned with the doctoral capstone areas of foci. These results can set the foundation for further studies examining the congruence between expectations and new graduate readiness for the field and inform current curricula to prepare students to meet the professional expectations of their supervisors and colleagues.