Ratings of Entry Level Skills by Music Therapy Clinicians, Educators, and Interns

Abstract

The authors designed 67 music therapy and 64 music entry level skills. Entry level skills were defined as skills music therapy students should possess after completion of a 4-year academic sequence and a 6-month clinical training program. The skills lists were mailed to music therapy clinicians, educators, and interns in the South Central Region. Respondents were asked to rate each skills on a 9-point scale. Of the 67 music therapists targeted to participate in the study, 48 or 71% responded. Ranges, means, and standard deviations were computed for each question. Of the music therapy skills assessed, ratings for those dealing with knowledge of the clinical, research, and theoretical literature fell below the midpoint. Also rated below the midpoint were 16 or 40% of the academic music skills. All of the functional music skills were rated above the midpoint.