Clinical Skills Lab

Develop the clinical judgment and hands-on skills needed for occupational therapy practice in RIT’s Clinical Skills Lab. This flexible simulation environment includes an open practice area, private evaluation space, teletherapy capabilities, rehabilitation technology, a modality area, and a changing and bathroom space. Students use the lab for demonstrations, structured practice, clinical scenarios, and simulated client encounters.

What is a Clinical Skills Lab?

The Clinical Skills Lab is an instructional environment modeled on outpatient and rehabilitation practice. It can be configured for individual treatment, group activities, evaluation, neurological and physical rehabilitation, technology-based intervention, and standardized-client simulations.

Students practice complete elements of the occupational therapy process, including interviewing, evaluation, goal development, intervention planning, treatment, documentation, and outcome assessment. The lab also provides a setting for developing therapeutic communication, professional behavior, safety awareness, and clinical reasoning.

What Do Students Learn and Do in the Clinical Skills Lab?

Students learn to:

  • Conduct occupational profiles and patient-centered interviews
  • Select, administer, and interpret clinical assessments
  • Evaluate range of motion, strength, sensation, coordination, cognition, vision, and functional performance
  • Practice positioning, handling, mobility, and transfer techniques
  • Develop interventions for neurological, musculoskeletal, and other health conditions
  • Use therapeutic activities to address functional goals
  • Apply precautions and safety procedures
  • Select and use physical-agent and mechanical modalities
  • Participate in standardized-client and case-based simulations
  • Provide occupational therapy through teletherapy
  • Use virtual, mixed, and functional-reality rehabilitation technology
  • Adapt interventions in response to client performance and feedback
  • Document evaluation findings, interventions, and outcomes
  • Communicate with clients, caregivers, and interprofessional team members
  • Evaluate whether a technology adds meaningful clinical value

Students move from isolated skill practice to complete clinical scenarios as their reasoning and professional skills develop.

What Technology and Equipment Will Students Work With?

The Clinical Skills Lab includes:

  • A large, flexible clinical simulation area
  • Treatment tables and configurable practice stations
  • A private evaluation room
  • Clinical assessment tools
  • Mobility, positioning, transfer, and adaptive equipment
  • Equipment for physical-agent and mechanical modalities
  • The Bioness BITS Functional Reality rehabilitation system
  • Virtual-, mixed-, and functional-reality learning applications
  • A dedicated teletherapy space with video-conferencing and demonstration technology
  • A changing and bathroom area for instruction in privacy, dignity, transfers, adaptive equipment, and environmental setup
  • Audiovisual resources for demonstrations, observation, feedback, and case review

The room supports skill development across the curriculum and helps students prepare for fieldwork, collaborative practice, and contemporary service-delivery models.

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