Relationships Among Entry-Level Education, Attitudes Toward Professionalizing Values, Professional Behaviors and Attitudes and Behaviors Concerning Continuing Professional Education as Perceived by Recently Certified Occupational Therapists, Registered
Entry-level education programs have been considered the arenas in which health professionals acquire the values and roles for later professionalizing behaviors. It has been speculated that certain aspects of entry-level programs positively relate to professionalizing and continuing professional education attitudes and behaviors. A national sample of recently certified occupational therapists, registered, selected by region and year since certification, was surveyed. Therapists were asked to identify emphasized aspects of their entry-level educational programs which they felt had had a positive or negative influence on attitudes toward occupational therapy as a profession. They were also asked to indicate the degree to which they had been engaged in professionalizing and continuing professional education behaviors such as membership and participation in various levels of professional organizations, participation in government and public affairs issues, pursuit of continuing professional education, and development of research and publications. Finally, they were asked to indicate their perceptions of the influence which entry-level education had had on their professionalizing and continuing professional education attitudes and behaviors, and the influences which these attitudes and behaviors had on each other.
Health Sciences, Education, Health Sciences, Rehabilitation and Therapy
University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
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University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign