Core Skills and Competencies: Part 1, What is Experience?

Abstract

In this first article of a series of four, the focus is on outlining the perception of authors who are concerned with the acquisition of professional expertise. This work is related to the reasons for and the difficulty in defining specifically what occupational therapists do without having to resort to listing technical tasks. This is especially relevant now, more than ever, as occupational therapists are asked to justify and defend local and national career structures in terms of input and outcomes for clients' needs. Part 2 will describe the competency approach as a method of clarifying the input of occupational therapy practitioners. Part 3 will detail research carried out in this field and give examples of the competencies of occupational therapists from basic grade to head level, showing graded levels of expertise. Lastly, part 4 will demonstrate the practical application of this work.