Framing a set of non-academic selection criteria for occupational therapy students: An Australian study

Background/Aim: Demand for places in occupational therapy programs at Australian universities may place undue emphasis on academic attainment when selecting students … but how else might students be selected? This study investigated those attributes judged by occupational therapy practitioners to be most important. Methods: From a focus group of occupational therapy academics, a list of occupational therapy practice attributes was generated and used to develop a questionnaire completed by 175 Australian occupational therapy practitioners. Results: The most highly rated abilities were communication and problem‐solving skills; the most highly rated qualities were respecting others, self‐responsibility and ethical orientation. Conclusions: This research has identified abilities and personal qualities that could be added to current selection criteria to assist in identifying suitable candidates for entry into occupational therapy education.