The Council leaders have committed to collaborating to advance the resources for academic fieldwork and capstone coordinators (AFWCC), fieldwork educators (FWE), capstone mentors (CM), and students. We have established a sustained capstone experience and have student engagement from Murphy Deming College of Health Sciences, Old Dominion University, Virginia Commonwealth University, Duquesne University, Russel Sage College, and Washington University thus far. Our students have been involved in projects such as developing the website for the Council, conducting a thorough needs assessment of our fieldwork education and capstone community (AFWCCs, FWEs, students), developing learning modules, facilitating training for FWEs and CMs, and developing student learning programs and tool kits. 

This capstone experience may address in-depth exposure in the following areas: education, administration, advocacy, program development, leadership, and research. We have found it valuable to shape the capstone project to align with the collaborative goals of the Council, the needs of the practice community, and the student’s learning needs and interests. 

Contact plaverdu@odu.edu with any questions.  

We have devised a list of project ideas for you to consider when choosing your capstone experience. 

• Statewide fieldwork and capstone needs assessment: including the development of an outreach and growth action plan and grant applications to fund the council

• Practice ready micro-learning series: including 10-15 minute podcast videos regarding feedback conversations, clinical reasoning talk aloud, documentation confidence, managing uncertainty, professionalism, and communication, etc.

• Virginia Fieldwork Educator training toolkit

• Capstone Mentor onboarding and support materials

• Setting toolkits expansion and creation of learning materials

• Fieldwork readiness student program: including short workshops, peer coaching, and reflection tools

• Fieldwork failure prevention toolkit: including best practices in a proactive framework, early warning flags, support strategies, documentation templates, de-escalation pathways, early concern checklist, remediation planning template, weekly check in forms.

• Nontraditional and emerging practice fieldwork expansion initiatives - identification of barriers, creating recruitment messaging, and developing onboarding packages for new sites and students.

• Creating accessible fieldwork - developing inclusion supports for students with disabilities

• Clinical reasoning out-loud coaching tools for fieldwork educators: making clinical reasoning visible and how to talk to students about clinical reasoning development

• Evidence-to-practice digest for fieldwork educators: quarterly digest tied to common fieldwork settings, systematic reviews, and clinical guidance into teaching points

• Development of a statewide “Fieldwork Educator Recognition” Program: spotlight stories, annual awards, badges/certificates

• Research-in-Fieldwork Education Project: supporting the AOTA education research framework

• Virginia Capstone Repository

• CE Program Development