LAUSR

The 2016 World Federation of Occupational Therapists (WFOT) Minimum Standards for the Education of Occupational Therapists (World Federation of Occupational Therapists, 2016) state that all students are expected to complete a minimum of 1000 practice education hours. Reference to a minimum of 1000 hours has been consistent since the original WFOT document Establishing a Programme for the Education of Occupational Therapists, published in 1958, with almost no variation to this requirement in subsequent revisions of the standards. The current minimum standards justify the tradition of retaining 1000 hours, stating ‘it has been consistent since practice-related experience was part of the occupational therapy educational process and appears comparable to other health professional preparation programmes’ (World Federation of Occupational Therapists, 2016: 49). Despite significant revision of the minimum standards in every other way, the original 1000 hours standard (based on 35 hours per week for 30 weeks) remains unchanged 60 years later, with almost no evidence to support or deny its relevance and validity in the current context. The 1000 hours minimum standard was established at a time when practice education usually took place in large mental health institutions and hospitals providing rehabilitation in a wide range of occupation-based interventions. Occupational therapy departments comprised large craft-based workshops and farms, where clients spent extended periods of time engaging in diversional or remedial activities. In this context, students were expected to observe and carry out assessment and interventions, while developing their medical knowledge, personalities, verbal and written reporting and gaining an appreciation of the administration of an occupational therapy service focused primarily on the medical model (World Federation of Occupational Therapists, 1958: 54–55). In line with educational theories of this time, an apprenticeship model of training with one-to-one supervision by a qualified occupational therapist was