Assistant Dean for Interprofessional Education Midge Hobbs recently received the New England Occupational Therapy Education Council’s Irene Allard Award for Fieldwork Education for her role at the Sheppard Pratt Health Care System in Baltimore, MD.

The Irene Allard Award is presented annually to recognize fieldwork educators who demonstrate exceptional competence, creativity, and practice in Occupational Therapy Fieldwork Education. Fieldwork is a crucial component in occupational therapy education where students apply their academic knowledge in real-world clinical settings.

Since 2015, Hobbs has worked virtually with Sheppard Pratt adolescent residential treatment center. In collaboration with two other on-site fieldwork supervisors, she works with approximately 40-45 Occupational Therapy students from all over the country every year. Her role is to support groups of OT students in developing their clinical reasoning skills and ability to integrate evidence into practice. 

“As an educator, I believe it's important to maintain a connection to practice, even if it's a small role,” said Hobbs. “Plus, mental health is such a challenging area of practice, and keeping one foot, or at least a few toes, in this practice setting helps me better prepare students in our own entry-level OTD Mental Health Lab here at the Institute.  It's also really rewarding to see IHP OT students assigned to Sheppard Pratt transition from the classroom to practice and grow in competence and confidence. The adolescent population is not an easy one. When you factor in how much trauma many of the residents have experienced in their short lives, the residential treatment center can be even more challenging. It's essential the residents get the support and therapy they need, and it's brilliant to see OT playing such an essential role in their care as part of the interprofessional team. Mental health is where OT started, so I'm just glad to be able to make a difference for the residents and future OTs.” 

Hobbs was nominated by Clinical Education Placement & Systems Associate Patti Peterson and Academic Fieldwork Coordinator Tara Mansour. 

“We nominated Midge for her remarkable contributions in expanding mental health services and enhancing Level II Fieldwork practice at an inpatient adolescent psychiatric facility,” said Mansour. “Her innovative approach provides essential support and development opportunities for OT students in a group setting, making a significant impact on their learning and professional growth.”