Entry-level occupational therapy assistant (OTA) academic programs prepare graduates to provide competent occupational therapy (OT) services appropriate to the degree level. Discrepancies between educational preparation and workplace expectations may hinder the transition from OTA student to entry-level practitioner, leading to challenges in supervision, collaboration, onboarding, and role clarity. Supervising occupational therapists (OTs) who oversee entry-level OTAs may partially define service competency implementation. Intra-professional collaboration, including supervision of OTAs, in adult rehabilitation settings has become more complex, less linear, and increasingly interdependent as organizational structures, reimbursement, and productivity expectations have evolved. Exploring how specific practitioners, employers, and systems implement and adhere to state and national intra-professional supervision guidelines, statutes, and licensing requirements for OT practice is crucial. OTs’ perceptions of entry-level OTA competency expectations, their definition of supervision, and their ability to mentor and collaborate may influence how guidelines and statutes are operationalized in complex clinical settings. An interpretive phenomenological qualitative pilot study design explored the perspectives of OTs who supervise entry-level OTAs in adult rehabilitation settings. Seven OTs working across a variety of adult rehabilitation settings: Acute care, sub-acute care, outpatient clinic, and home health, participated in semi-structured interviews to convey their perceptions of collaboration with and competency expectations for entry-level OTAs. They identified strengths, barriers, and opportunities for improvement in interpreting entry-level OTA competencies.
