Alumni recognized as outstanding clinical educator

Occupational therapy education consists of classroom didactic learning and clinical fieldwork experiences. According to the COE Guidelines, fieldwork experiences provide students the opportunity to apply theoretical and scientific principles learned in the didactic portion of the academic program to address actual client needs and develop a professional identity as an occupational therapy practitioner within an interdisciplinary context (COE Guidelines). 

Students are supervised by experienced clinical fieldwork educators, meeting state and federal guidelines, in a variety of occupational therapy settings. Alumni of WVU Division of Occupational Therapy play an important role in the future of the profession by supervising these fieldwork experiences. 

Recently, Dee Dee Hesson, OTR/L was recognized as Fieldwork Educator of the Year. This recognition spotlights her continuous support and mentorship to the future occupational therapy student practitioners in Ohio. Hesson, pictured below with an OT student, has served the students and patients at Cleveland Clinic for 10 years. Her clinical areas of expertise include outpatient neurological and inpatient acute care. Hesson is a 2009 alumna of the WVU Division of Occupational Therapy and served as the President of her OT class.