Occupational Therapy Students’ Perceived Preparedness to Work with Transgender Clients

In order to be a successful practitioner, an occupational therapist must have proper knowledge for treating diverse populations, including clients who are transgender. However, many occupational therapy (OT) programs do not teach content that is specific to the transgender population. This study utilized a complementary mixed-methods design to determine how prepared occupational therapy students perceived themselves to be for working with transgender clients. Entry-level masters and doctoral level occupational therapy students from accredited OT programs across the United States that had completed at least their first Level II fieldwork were recruited to participate. Eighty-five occupational therapy students completed the quantitative survey, and a subsequent six students participated in the phone interview for the qualitative portion of the study. Nearly all of the participants reported that their educators prepared them “not at all” or “some” to work with clients who are transgender. The majority of the participants reported having had contact with members of the transgender community. However, only about a third of participants reported having any transgender content in their courses. The themes that emerged from the qualitative data were limited knowledge about the topic, patient as the educator, self-directed training, and awareness of barriers the transgender community faces. These findings suggest that academic accreditation standards need to be updated to include marginalized populations, including transgender content, to decrease barriers and improve overall care provided to clients