‘What is clinical practice and why is it necessary for the training of qualified occupational therapists?’ the specialists of the Ukrainian Catholic University Medical Clinic, which is the clinical base of the UCU Faculty of Health Sciences, told their colleagues.
Teachers of occupational therapy from different parts of Ukraine visited the UCU Medical Clinic as part of the Rehab4U project ‘Rehabilitation in Ukraine,’ which focuses on improving the skills of specialists through training. The colleagues came to learn from the experience of UCU, which was the first in Ukraine to introduce compulsory clinical practice for occupational therapy students of the UCU Faculty of Health Sciences. Among the guests was Samantha Shann, president of the World Federation of Occupational Therapists, which supports the development of rehabilitation in Ukraine.
“According to the educational standards, there should be only 2 students per supervisor, there should be a room for clinical practice, each student should work a thousand practical hours, and there should be a coordinator of clinical training. We told our colleagues what algorithms we use to conduct the practice, how we evaluate students, and what skills they should acquire during clinical practice,” said Vira Rokoshevska, head of the Department of Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy at the UCU Medical Clinic.
The Ukrainian Catholic University, together with the National University of Physical Education and Sports of Ukraine and the Khortytsia National Academy, participated in a pilot project to implement educational standards for the training of physical and occupational therapists (as part of the Momentum Wheels for Humanity project ‘Improving rehabilitation services in the health care system’). UCU developed and was the first to implement the Clinical Training of Physical Therapists, which influenced the decision to include it in the master’s level educational standard.
Date: 30 July 2025