Towards Diversity in Occupational Therapy Education: An Integrated Admissions-and- Pathway Strategy via Student Engagement

In the context of health professions education, studies have demonstrated that non-cognitive skills, as assessed by a situational judgement test such as Casper, are a better predictor than GPA of performance in fieldwork, which comprises activities closely aligned with professional practice. Dr. Roduta Roberts’ recent study demonstrated that assigning greater weight to Casper versus GPA when making selection decisions optimized the prediction of performance in fieldwork and led to small changes in the diversity, or background characteristics, of a selected cohort. Together, these studies suggest that the historic emphasis on GPA is an insufficient metric and may pose an unnecessary barrier to students. Admissions strategies such as assigning optimal weights to measures of achievement and non-cognitive skill alone cannot diversify the applicant pool if diverse students are not making applications in the first place. Pathway programs has been noted as a strategy to recruit and retain diverse applicants to health professions programs. This study explores the potential of pathway programs and their integration with admissions practices in occupational therapy from the perspective of aspiring health professions students with diverse lived experiences.