The relationship between admission criteria and practice preferences.
A continual decline in the number of occupational therapists selecting mental health as their practice area has resulted in a personnel shortage. This study aimed at examining admission criteria to one occupational therapy program and the relationship of these criteria to practice preferences at admission. The question of whether current admission criteria are biased against those applicants preferring mental health practice is pertinent if the personnel shortage in mental health is to be alleviated. An analysis of the differences in practice preferences between accepted, alternate, and rejected groups of applicants indicated that such a bias did not exist. When admission was recalculated with only grade point average instead of the current procedure of a weighted combination of grade point average and interview, it was found that the admitted class would have contained more students preferring mental health practice. Additional research is recommended to further examine admission criteria and their relationship to practice.
Swinehart
S
S
Division of Allied Health Sciences, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis 46202-5118.
Feinberg
J
J
D001290:Attitude; D002755:Choice Behavior; D006233:Persons with Disabilities; D004521:Educational Measurement; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000628:therapy; D009788:Occupational Therapy / Q000193:education / Q000523:psychology*; D011364:Professional Practice; D012570:School Admission Criteria; D000078329:Workforce