AI and Clinical Reasoning in School-Based Occupational Therapy

About this episode

Artificial intelligence is quickly entering healthcare and education, and occupational therapists are asking an important question: How can we use AI responsibly without losing the clinical reasoning that defines our profession? In this episode, Jayson Davies sits down with OT educator and researcher Tara Mansour to explore practical, ethical ways school-based OT practitioners can begin using AI tools.

Tara shares how she teaches future occupational therapists to use AI as a “first draft partner” while still prioritizing evidence-based practice, professional judgment, and student-centered care. They also discuss privacy considerations, prompt strategies, treatment planning ideas, and how AI can support data collection, documentation, and intervention development.

If you're curious about how AI might fit into your school-based OT workflow—or concerned about how it could impact clinical reasoning—this episode provides a thoughtful and practical perspective. Tune in to learn how AI can support occupational therapy while keeping the human clinician firmly in the loop.

Listen now to learn the following objectives:

— Learners will describe appropriate ways AI tools can support school-based OT practice, including treatment planning, documentation drafting, and intervention idea generation.

— Learners will explain ethical and privacy considerations when using AI, including FERPA and HIPAA concerns and strategies for de-identifying student information.

— Learners will identify the "human-in-the-loop" approach to AI-assisted practice, distinguishing between AI-generated versus AI-assisted work and the role of critical clinical reasoning in evaluating AI outputs.

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