Musings of an unconventional OT student

As an OT student, we learn so much in a very short period of time. Some things we are good at, some things… not so much. It is important to identify strengths and weaknesses as both impact our performance as health practitioners. You can’t just not see a patient because you aren’t good at a certain aspect of your profession. You need to be able to help whoever walks through the occupational therapy department doors with whatever diagnosis. I have always been one of those people that focus on my weaknesses, as these are places that need the most improvement. On one hand, this is a good thing as I am always looking for things I can improve on. On the other hand, it can become very… depressing if you are constantly looking at your downfalls. With intervention being a whole new aspect of being a third year student, the weaknesses list is going to be A LOT longer than your strengths list. So to list a few weaknesses I have identified during fieldwork… Difficulty writin...

I really love this quote. It gave me a good giggle when I came across it, because life would be quite boring without stress, because people only stress when something important is about to happen. For me, that something important…. Or somethings, was my midterms. Midterms consists of a 20 page case study, a 22 minute case presentation and a 15 minute planned prac exam. I had my prac exam on Monday. A prac exam is a planned 15 minute session of intervention, which your supervisor will mark you on. I had not realised how long 15 minutes was until I had my prac exam. Nerves? Definitely. Feeling like I wanted to run away from the facility? Absolutely. Did it go well? It did. I planned a wheelchair mobility session where my client would have to transfer from the plinth to the wheelchair and wheel himself outside, down a ramp and then up a ramp to go to the dining room for lunch. My client has never done inclines or declines before, and as such, needed to be taught how ...

  This quote is so beautiful as it basically says that it takes all types of people, with different beliefs, different values, different ways of life and different cultures to make the world go round. I think this is such an amazing quote because it speaks of acceptance, consideration and awareness. As OTs, we need to be aware of the various aspects that make up a client as we work holistically by finding out what motivates a person and the way they behave. One of these things is culture. What is culture? The Cambridge English Dictionary defines it as “ the ideas, customs, and social behaviour of a particular people or society” ("CULTURE | meaning in the Cambridge English Dictionary", 2019) But I feel that this really puts a person into a single box, when really, a person is so multifaceted because there are so many factors that influence a person. I have always thought of it as a marriage between how a person is raised, their personality, their belief system, and the e...

This is the way that I would like to deal with every day, because every day is full of opportunities to make a difference in someone’s life, even be it your own. Every day is a time to start on new page and try to become the person you want to grow to be. It's all about the approach. Similarly, in OT, you need to use an approach when treating your client, but it’s all about the right approach (see what I did there.) But before you can think about an approach, you need to look at applied frames of reference (AFR). A frame of reference is a “reference that is developed from synthesis and interpretation of knowledge.” So in normal English language, it is a reference that is developed using different sources of (e.g. anatomy, physiology) and understanding and making sense of this knowledge to be able to use it as a guide for treatment. It is important to choose an AFR based on your client and their assessment findings.   After choosing an AFR, you THEN move ont...