Home
Healthcare Professionals
Occupational Therapy Fellowship Program
Acute and Critical Care Occupational Therapy Fellowship Program

Acute and Critical Care Occupational Therapy Fellowship Program

Program Mission

The mission of the Tampa General Hospital Acute and Critical Care Occupational Therapy Fellowship Program is to cultivate advanced practitioners in acute and critical care through evidence-based practice, expert mentorship, scholarly inquiry, and interprofessional collaboration. Fellows will develop specialized clinical reasoning and leadership skills to provide exceptional, patient-centered care for medically complex individuals across acute and intensive care settings. In alignment with Tampa General Hospital's vision to be the safest and most innovative academic health system in America, the program prepares occupational therapists to improve patient outcomes, advance professional practice, and lead innovation in acute and critical care rehabilitation

Program Overview

Goals and Objectives

Provide occupational therapy services for medically complex patients across acute and critical care settings, including ICU, trauma, transplant, cardiac, neurological, and surgical populations, while adapting interventions to support participation in meaningful daily activities and safe functional recovery.
Integrate occupational therapy into the interprofessional critical care team by supporting early mobilization, delirium prevention, family engagement, discharge planning, and patient-centered care throughout the hospitalization.
Use current evidence and emerging best practices to guide clinical decision making, provide advanced care, evaluate outcomes, and identify opportunities to improve functional outcomes in acute and critical care patient populations.
Participate in program development, quality improvement, and service advancement initiatives that enhance the delivery of occupational therapy and improve the patient experience across the continuum of acute care.
Share knowledge and promote professional growth through mentorship, education, and scholarly activities that support occupational therapy practitioners, students, patients, families, and members of the healthcare team.

Curriculum and Outline of Education Materials

The Acute and Critical Care Fellowship Program is a 12-month, 53-week program consisting of the following learning modules:
- 1-week TGH required new team member orientation
- 8 weeks Introduction to acute care
- 39 weeks Training/Education with Acute and Critical Care Populations
  - Vascular/Vascular Surgery – 5 weeks
  - Trauma/Surgical Trauma – 11 weeks
  - Neurology/Neurosurgery – 11 weeks
  - Cardiac/Cardiothoracic surgery/Transplant– 12 weeks
- 4 weeks in specialty area of practice (burns, emergency medicine, etc.)
- 1-week for final exam, project presentations, and program wrap-up
Additional learning opportunities include observation of inpatient pharmacy, medical review board, specialty surgery/procedure observation, cardiac rehab and respiratory therapy, and many more!
Breakdown of teaching hours during the 51 weeks of education (does not include orientation week and final/wrap-up week):
- Clinical Practice:
  - Approximately 28 hours of direct, hands-on clinical practice weekly (Total: 1428 hours)
- Didactic learning:
  - Approximately 4 hours of synchronous and asynchronous didactic education weekly (Total: 204 hours)
- Mentored Service Delivery:
  - Approximately 8 hours per week of mentorship to include direct one-on-one meetings and training with practice mentor (Total: 408 hours)

Hours

Most on-site fellowship activities occur Monday through Friday between 8 AM and 7 PM. The fellow’s work schedule will be flexible and allow for patient care, training, mentoring, study time and preparation. Schedules are coordinated by the fellowship program coordinator and shall not exceed expectations of more than 40 hours/week of direct program participation. There will be additional personal study time required.

Weekend/Holiday Requirements

The fellow will be responsible for working one weekend every 5th weekend with designated days off in the week prior and the week after their respective weekend. The fellow will also be responsible for working on one winter holiday (Christmas Day) and on one summer holiday (Independence Day) during the fellowship program.

Accreditation Information

The TGH Acute and Critical Care Fellowship Program has received a 10-year accreditation from the American Occupational Therapy Program effective August 2026. The next re-accreditation application cycle is due in March of 2036, with an interim report due in January 2031.