About OT on the Tracks

I'm currently a newly qualified Occupational Therapist based in Scotland. 

I'm currently part of the #OTalk team, so you can usually find me over on Twitter, hosting and supporting chats.

 I am also currently on the committee of the RCOT Scottish Eastern Region as joint social media lead. 

Special Interests: Social media use as a platform for continuing professional development as well as within student development curriculum and learning and the role of occupation on integration and inclusion.

Where did the idea for this blog come from:

I created this blog whilst working as an OT assistant, having just accepted a place on the MSc Occupational Therapy (Pre-reg) course at The University of Cumbria. I hoped I could blog about the run up to starting the course and my journey to become a qualified Occupational Therapist, as a way of helping me reflect on my learning and also help other students thinking about studying Occupational Therapy. 

However whilst on the course, I began to realise the opportunities social media platforms could provide as a way to reflect and develop as a practitioner as part of my continuing professional development, so I plan to continue to use the space and interactions the come from posts to continue to develop as a qualified OT.

I hope to be able to blog about how this journey happens and also about relevant news, theory, practice and journals that I come across along the way. 

Whilst studying the blog posts were mainly in two formats:

Week.../Month... Updates: These will have more of a diary feel with some reflection soon after events; the aim of these is to track my journey through university to become a qualified OT. You can find a list of these posts here.

Other Posts: These will include deeper reflections on particular topics and discussions regarding how I'm linking theory to practice, as well as discussion on OT topics of interest and CPD which can be found  here.


Post qualifying, my blog posts aim to be more specific to:

Transition from student to qualified Occupational Therapist: Just like as a student, I feel that blogging about my transition to newly qualified will help my reflection as a practitioner, so I plan to write about the experience as I go through the process.

Blogs on topics of interest: These will have a range of focuses, based on journals I have read and areas of practice I am interested in understanding more.

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Why OT on the Tracks? 

I chose to name my blog 'OT on the Tracks' for a number of reasons. One of them being that I will be commuting down to university in Carlisle from Edinburgh on the train to attend classes, and I also traveled by rail to placement locations, It felt fitting as a lot of my personal reflections took place either on the platform waiting for the train or whilst staring out the window taking in the Cumbrian and Scottish countryside.

I also feel that metaphorically  'OT on the Tracks" helped to portray the journey that I will be on from OT Assistant to a graduate OT and then on to the  continued learning and development as a fully qualified Occupational Therapist.

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All content is my own unless otherwise stated. Views and opinions expressed are my own and not that of my educational institution, practice/employment setting or professional body.