This issue of the American Journal of Occupational Therapy reflects an increase in the quantity and quality of scholarly projects submitted for publication in this special issue. The positive response to the call for papers is evidence of the focused interest that faculty, both academic and clinical, and practitioners have brought to their work of educating and preparing the next generation of occupational therapists. This article discusses educational issues from academic, student, and fieldwork points of view, further validating the pervasive commitment that is being made to further understanding of how occupational therapists are educated. The articles cover topics including the critical issues of curriculum, value and timing of fieldwork and simulation experiences, and documentation of strategies to measure the effects of comparative educational experiences.

This article presents the current state of measurement in the area of sensory integration within the field of occupational therapy in three areas: (1) phenotypic characterization, (2) intervention adherence and dosage, and (3) outcome measurement. The need for additional measurement tools in all three areas is addressed. In regard to outcome measurement of occupational therapy using sensory integration, the use of both qualitative and quantitative methods to obtain outcome data is recommended. Further, a strategy is recommended for obtaining outcome data from direct report from the child or other stakeholder.

Translating research findings into practice includes myriad pragmatic realities, including understanding the suitability of the data to a particular patient group, writing new guidelines for occupational therapy practitioners, facilitating adoption of the guidelines, and instituting new patterns of care for patients. The process is more than a matter of disseminating the information to practitioners and expecting immediate change in patient treatment. Indeed, the field of implementation science is devoted to the identification of the numerous barriers and supports that constrain or expedite practice change in response to research. Moving forward and adopting evidence-based findings will require a focused understanding of the particular setting where change is warranted. Among the issues to address are the health system levels involved in change (professional, legislative, administrative, practitioner, and patient and family members), the values and beliefs of the participants, and knowledge of the communication channels that exist in the setting and how information and new ideas make their way through the setting.

The recent focus on clinical reasoning in occupational therapy, specifically on how therapists solve complex problems, has stimulated interest in how master clinicians think in practice. By gaining insight into how clinicians think and what they think about when they identify and solve problems, we may be able to identify clinical reasoning patterns and processes that occupational therapy students and novice therapists need to experience in order to progress in their practice or to emerge as leaders in their field. Observation of the way in which clinical masters and leaders view challenges and solve problems as manifested in their clinical reasoning may provide new and potential therapists with clues as to how to best hone their skills and knowledge for future success in practice. This paper describes a study that examined the relationship of mastery, excellence, and leadership in occupational therapy. Ten master clinicians were interviewed to determine the characteristics of their mastery and excellence in practice and to explore the degree to which they engaged in leadership behavior. The findings revealed that mastery, excellence, and leadership are independent of one another but that some characteristics are common to all of these phenomena.

Occupational therapists have a long-standing familiarity with and commitment to the concept of change. Our professional practice has always had a primary focus on assisting individuals as they adapt to change due to disability and disease. The recent literature on adaptation, stress, and coping presents a picture of how important our professional expertise is in helping people interact effectively in their environments. Now, as we enter a decade of unprecedented technological advances and associated social and economic response, we are finding that we must make significant changes if we are to survive as a profession. As part of the General Sessions series at the 1983 AOTA Annual Conference, this paper addresses the issues confronting the changing individual in the ’80s by exploring the new and expanding roles for occupational therapists in the near future. Outside influences, including consumer-based health trends, medical and scientific developments, and new patient and client needs, are discussed and analyzed according to their impact on internal professional factors such as leadership, management, and business skills.