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For most students in occupational therapy (OT) graduate programs, it may be several years, if ever, before they see their names on a paper or abstract in a peer-reviewed journal or professional publication. Once they become licensed and registered OTs, some may find themselves so immersed in the day-to-day demands of clinical practice that the prospect of being published feels out of reach. That won’t be the case for OT students at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC). At UIC, entry-level OT doctoral students have the opportunity to become published authors before they graduate, providing them with a tangible advantage early in their careers.
As part of UIC OT’s highly ranked doctoral program, students in the Research Foundations for Evidence-based Practice series collaborate with the Center for Rehabilitation Outcomes Research (CROR) at Shirley Ryan AbilityLab in Chicago to update standardized measurement summaries used in rehabilitation practice. Over the years, CROR has compiled more than 600 measurement instruments into a free resource known as the Rehabilitation Measures Database (RMD). New measures are being added all the time and older ones may need revisions.
By the end of the course, UIC OT students will have their names listed as authors on measurement summaries in the RMD, an achievement that can be cited on their resumes or at professional conferences. “It is a valuable way to bring standardized measurement to life and make it meaningful for our students as future OTs,” says UIC assistant professor of occupational therapy, Sabrin Rizk, PhD, OTR/L, who leads the measurement science module of the course. “From the outset, I tell students this is a real and unique opportunity to see their names as authors on a non-refereed publication, and I encourage them to take ownership of their work and aim for a level of quality they can genuinely be proud of.”
Maya Smith, a second-year student in UIC’s OT entry-level doctoral program, took Rizk’s class as part of her coursework. The class of 40 students was divided into 10 groups, and Smith’s cohort was assigned the Minnesota Manual Dexterity Test (MMDT) to review and update. The test involves a board with 60 black and red disks. Test subjects are asked to place or turn the disks on a board using either one or both hands. The test is timed.
“Occupational therapists use it to assess motor skills, and there’s also a cognitive aspect because people have to listen to what’s being asked of them,” Smith explains. Smith and her group analyzed several studies involving the MMDT. They found that although the test could be administered to individuals who had experienced a stroke or traumatic brain injury, it was most commonly used with people diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, a degenerative neurological condition that affects manual coordination, among other functions.
Smith’s group reviewed the physical medicine and rehabilitation literature to understand how standardized assessments like the MMDT are used for various conditions and impairments in rehabilitation. They described how the instrument is used, reported key features like reliability and validity, and determined that the MMDT provides an accurate measure of manual coordination and is strongly correlated to daily task performance, making it particularly relevant for real-world functioning. “I really liked the assignment because it was the first time we could put what we learned about research into practice,” Smith says. “It was a great way for us to use what we’ve learned and turn it into something tangible that will be used by rehabilitation clinicians.”
During the course, Smith and her fellow students drafted a new summary of the MMDT. Rizk reviewed their work and provided feedback, which the students incorporated before submitting a final version to CROR for further review. After the students’ summaries are published on the RMD, they also are shared on CROR’s Facebook and LinkedIn accounts. The learning process continues in the next course in the UIC OT Research Foundations series, when students create infographics about the measures, using clear language so clinicians, patients and care partners can also understand the information.
CROR project coordinator Kevin Fearn manages the RMD and selects the measures that UIC students work on. He trawls the database for instruments with summaries that haven’t been updated in the last five years. He also looks for measures that have been cited in five or more published studies. “It is a great help to have the students update the measure summaries for the RMD. They perform the literature search, review the journal articles and extract the relevant psychometric data needed to update the summary,” Fearn says. “Sometimes during this process, the students discover that there has been an update to the measure that we were not aware of.”
In addition to UIC, CROR works with 15 other universities around the country, including Columbia University in New York and the University of Washington in Seattle. “Having OT graduate students update summaries on the RMD has been a tremendous asset to CROR,” says CROR director Allen Heinemann, PhD. “Their involvement has brought fresh perspectives and a high level of professionalism to the work, ensuring the information is both current and accurate. The quality of the student contributions has consistently been impressive.”
Last October, Smith saw the payoff for her hard work. She had the opportunity to present the revised summary of the MMDT at the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine (ACRM) in Chicago. The annual gathering draws thousands of rehabilitation researchers from around the world, many with decades of experience. “I felt both excited and nervous going into the presentation,” says Smith. “That made the experience especially meaningful and rewarding.”