Golden times: Exploring the sense making derived from the practice experiences of student Occupational Therapists in India

Ribchester, Helen (2025) Golden times: Exploring the sense making derived from the practice experiences of student Occupational Therapists in India.

Introduction The World Federation of Occupational Therapists sets global standards for Occupational Therapy education providing consistency in the expectations that student Occupational Therapists will engage in at least 1,000 hours of practice education. Whilst much is written in the western dominated literature about student experiences of practice, there is a distinct lack of comparable literature within non-western cultural contexts. This study explores the phenomenon of the practice experiences of Occupational Therapy students in India. The study aims to understand how students make sense of their experiences within the Indian context, thus offering a new perspective on student learning and development and highlighting the unique nature of Occupational Therapy education and practice in India. Methodology Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was the chosen methodology for this study, with 12 second and third year undergraduate students at an Indian university taking part in individual semi-structured interviews. Elements of poetic inquiry were included to support IPA through re-presentation of the student voice and presentation of researcher reflexivity. Reflexivity is embedded throughout the study to achieve transparency of the unique perspective of the white British UK based researcher. Findings Analysis revealed eight Group Experiential Themes: “Here in OT, everything is unique”; “Grading towards seeing the client on our own”; “Studying then applying is always resting in our mind”; We need to get the positives, also the negatives”; “Postings are really golden times”; “As a future OT, we are not working for a condition”; “I’m cherishing my thoughts and clinical practices with you, it’s nice”; “The scenarios are different in India”. Conclusion Despite contextual differences, the students in this study described experiences of learning and development consistent with those described in other relatable studies and published evidence regarding experiential and transformational learning. However, the community of practice to which they are introduced, composed of the academic tutors who also support their practice experiences, offers a unique consistency in structure and content. Therefore, students’ practice experiences are characterised by predictable expectations of knowledge and skills which are not seen in other studies emanating from other countries. This reflects the unique collective nature of the Indian student experience, contributing a new perspective to the knowledge base relating to student practice learning and Occupational Therapy education globally.