en Occupational Therapy Occupational Therapy Original Research Original Research <p> <strong> Background </strong>:Fieldwork education is a core part of all occupational therapy curriculums around the world to enable the students meet minimum competencies required for their professional life. Student experience is a valuable source to explore the nature of fieldwork training and plan more efficient curriculums in the future. This study aimed to explore the students' experiences in the first fieldwork education. </p><p> <strong> Methods </strong>: Data were collected through a focus group and series of semi-structured interviews with 16 occupational therapy students who had passed the first semester of fieldwork education at three occupational therapy departments in Iran. The interviews were transcribed line by line and analyzed according to inductive content analysis. </p><p> <strong> Results </strong>: Following the analysis of the data, three main themes were identified including the importance of supervisors’ management, deficits in the current curriculum and challenges in the educational environment. Each theme included different categories to show students’ concerns and challenges in the first fieldwork education experience and their suggestions for more efficient trainings. </p><p> <strong> Conclusion </strong>: The research argues that several combined key factors determine the nature and utility of occupational therapy (OT) fieldwork experiences of the students. However, further studies are needed to clarify the experiences of the supervisors, department managers and others involved in the fieldwork education. </p> Clinical education, Occupational tTherapystudent, Professional education, Qualitative research. 715 726 http://mjiri.iums.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-1501-6&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Mehdi Rezaee Arezaee2003@yahoo.com 200319475328460014775 200319475328460014775 No Department of Occupational Therapy, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, Iran Mehdi Rassafiani mrassafiani@yahoo.com 200319475328460014776 200319475328460014776 Yes Iranian Research Center on Aging, Pediatrics Neurorehabilitation Research Center, Department of Occupational Therapy, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Hamidreza Khankeh hamid.khankeh@ki.se 200319475328460014777 200319475328460014777 No Disaster Rehabilitation Research Center, School of Nursing, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Science, Tehran, Iran. Mohammad Ali Hosseini mahmaimy@yahoo.com 200319475328460014778 200319475328460014778 No School of Nursing, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, Iran.