Once an OT, always an OT

A while back I didn't get into med. Needless to say I was pretty upset.

Being very practical I chose to study..... electrical engineering. Guess you didn't see that coming! I love maths, I LOVE physics and I love the potential of engineering. One lecturer said that engineers have saved more lives than medicine ever will. I guess with the inventions of sewers etc, this is true.

Unfortunately all these practical reasons did not convince my heart. After three weeks I dropped out. My heart demanded me to follow my passion for working with people and blood and guts. I tossed up between occupational therapy and psychology. OT won out because I figured that even if I never worked as an OT it would teach me skills that would be an asset to life in general.

Studying OT turned out to be one of the best decisions of my life.  I'm now heading in to my very last week of working as an OT. I want to reflect on the profession's incredibleness as a way of saying 'thank-you' and holding onto all that I have learnt.


This is the quote at the beginning of my core OT text 'The tools of our minds and the tools of our hands are of meaningless use without deep and personal reasons of the heart to set their purpose and guide their use' (Paul Brockelman). Basically that is OT. An OT comes alongside someone or a group and 'enables' them to integrate their minds, physical abilities and hearts to perform a task that is deeply meaningful to them. How beautiful, how wonderful, how simple.

Of course my OT friends would also joke that we should be called occupational thorough-pests, or that we have a degree in common sense.  Still simplicity should by no means remove some of its worth.

Personally this it was OT has done for me:

• I desperately needed to increase my motor skills to even consider being a surgeon. I took up the 'occupation' of knitting and crocheting and my motor  skills have improved out of sight. I also now have made some lovely blankets and a rather hideous jumper. 
• I wanted to save up for Europe, get fit and have time to reflect. Using the PEO model I worked that that if I stopped catching the bus and got up just a little earlier I could walk the 5ks and achieve all three.
• It's taught me the importance of occupational balance. There is such freedom in this! Everyone needs time to achieve, to exercise, to eat, to sleep, to just be and to have fun and good friendships.
• It's taught me that most people who tell you something secret and dear to them are not after advice. They simply want a witness, someone to listen. 
• The list goes on and on including words such as: enable, facilitate, just right challenge, counselling, observing, listening, teaching, empathy, creativity, lateral thinking, running groups...

OT THANK YOU!!!! YOU SHALL MAKE ME A MUCH RICHER-ROUNDED DOCTOR:)