Perspectives Inaugural Issue (Winter 2013)

PERSPECTIVES • WINTER/SPRING 2013 29 OT • FORT LAUDERDALE Four second-year M.O.T. students—Re- becca Solomon, Ashley Taylor, Amy Von Edwin, and Kathyrn Lester—participated in a trip abroad to Ireland in May 2012 as part of their leadership course and field- work with OT assistant professors Adri- enne Lauer, Ed.D., and Kristin Winston, Ph.D. The students had the opportunity to examine leadership principles and prac- tices from a variety of perspectives and within a variety of contexts. Students primarily reflected on the use of Kouzes’ and Posner’s (2007) five prac- tices of exemplary leadership, which in- clude model the way, inspire a shared vision, challenge the process, enable others to act, and encourage the heart (Kouzes and Posner) . As part of their experience, students wrote reflective journal entries and completed a SWOT (strengths, weak- nesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis on one of the agencies they interfaced with (Ledlow & Coppola, 2011) . While visiting the National Education Center for Blind Children in Dublin, the students were able to interview administra- tive and direct-care personnel to discuss leadership from multiple levels within the organization. In addition, the students as- sisted with a presentation to staff members at the center on the use of the iPad with vi- sually impaired students and negotiating feeding concerns with this population. Through participation in this presentation, the students demonstrated personal leader- ship through the development of aspects of the presentation. While at University College Cork, the students met with multidisciplinary team members of the Health Service Executive where Dr. Lauer had previously worked. This visit provided the students with a unique opportunity to discuss the delivery of occupational therapy services for young children in a national early intervention program. The students were able to com- pare and contrast the service delivery model in Ireland with that of the United States and discuss their ideas on how their own leadership could influence the delivery of occupational therapy services upon re- turning to the United States and beginning their fieldwork and future clinical practice. In addition, the students explored issues related to how health care and the delivery of occupational therapy curricula and serv- ices compared and differed between Ire- land and the United States. Students took the opportunity to discuss these issues with faculty members and students from Uni- versity College Cork and Trinity College in Dublin. While at University College Cork (UCC), the M.O.T. students attended a research poster session highlighting the UCC occupational therapy students’ re- search. Having recently presented their own research, the NSU students were able to reflect on practice issues facing both countries in terms of the research pre- sented. Following the poster session, the students discussed the importance of lead- ership related to service delivery and be- coming evidence-based practitioners. On a final note, students took advantage of many cultural opportunities in Ireland, one of which was to tour Kilmain- ham Goal where many leaders of Irish re- bellions were imprisoned until the early 1920s. While touring the jail, students were also able to reflect on leadership in a very different context from that of the health care arena. It was wonderful to see the students apply information from their coursework in these varied contexts. M.O.T. LEADERSHIP FIELDWORK IN IRELAND