Bright future ahead – an online educational and vocational training program design for foreign-trained occupational therapist in the U.S.

• Main Author: Levin Schwartz, Neta
• Other Authors: Stone, Lauren
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2021
• Subjects: Occupational therapy; Bridging program; Highly educated immigrants; Internationally trained occupational therapists; Internationally trained OTs; Relocation; Training program
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/2144/42569; https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3639-3745

Foreign-trained healthcare professionals consist of a sizable and important portion of the United States healthcare workforce (Chen et al., 2013; Farkas, 2003; Lowell, 2012). Foreign-trained healthcare workers often encounter various challenges in acclimating and integrating into the American society and workforce. Even though foreign-trained occupational therapists are considered essential, and their difficulties in adjusting are well-recognized, there are very limited bridging and training programs designated solely for this population that incorporate a comprehensive approach and meets their unique needs. Therefore, this doctoral project aimed to understand the barriers to integrating into the local workforce and proposed ways for supporting these highly- educated and experienced professionals in their new country. The resulting solution is A Bright Future Ahead, an online educational and vocational program designed for new foreign occupational therapists. The program’s content and structure are based on existing programs for adjacent health professionals while customizing the program’s layout and content to target occupational therapists. A Bright Future Ahead suggests a multi-layered solution that requires an enormous investment in the program’s development and implementation; however, this program can be expanded in the future to other professions that share similar professional credentialing processes and experience akin barriers.