OT is such a small world... Reflections on attending #uocOT

Photo of slide from Michelle Perryman's Keynote

I'm finally getting around to writing this blog post about attending the 2nd year MSc Research Conference on the 21st April. I was really excited to be able to hear what the 2nd years had been researching and was really glad I used one of my study days at placement to go along. You can check out the conference hashtag #uocOT on twitter to read through the day as a few people were live tweeting throughout, or check out the summary on healthcare hashtag.

I'd thought Id share on a few points from the day that I particularly enjoyed and that got me thinking. 


Morning Keynote: Michelle Perryman: 'Disruption Breeds Creation'

#uocOT twitter feed

I really enjoyed hearing about her research journey so far which has seen her also travel to various places around the world. It was also great to see her present the keynote because she also studied the MSc at Cumbria; which I feel was a great encouragement to know how wide and far we can go once graduated. We can set our sights higher and further than just settling into a band 5 role. 

It allowed me to see that as an OT, the world really is a place to be explored and that the skills we learn as we train will help to take us to a range of different and interesting places if we are brave enough to take that leap.  Michelle also projected her passion for research  and occupational therapy which was exciting to see.

Michelle shared about transforming from student OT to practitioner and the feelings that go with the change. She highlighted the communities available to help with this transition  such as: @OTalk_  & @Emerging2OT - Social Media can support us as students and also as we develop into practitioners and continue to grow...

OT spills out into all aspects of out life and the people we work and interact with.

Occupational Therapy is a way of life!

#uocOT

I was challenged by Michelle's keynote (Look forward to one day reading her research on performance profiling) even as a student still learning about outcome measures whether they can ever be client centred enough for them to highlight their values and personalised outcomes... Are we finding the clients voice when we use outcome measures - Is it the right one for them as an individual or is it a tick box exercise.. If we say we are client centred surely it is our job to find the best way to get the individuals voice heard throughout our work with them.




2nd Yr MSc Research Findings

All of the 2nd year's research was impressive and it's a shame I couldn't hear about them all as the conference was split into 3 sets, but thankful for some tweeting throughout so I got a glimpse of more than I was able to physically hear about. Slightly frightening but also incredibly exciting to think that in a years time it will be my turn to share my research. 

I've picked 3 of the 2nd year's research that caught my attention over the day to share. My reflections of course are personal opinion and may not represent the direct findings of the researchers themselves...

Sarah Nolan shared her research on the impact of relocation on occupation - focusing on Irish postgraduate occupational therapy students relocating to UK to study. It was great to learn more about the differences in culture and how they impact on students relocating, and on some level I should relate to this as a Scottish student studying in England, without the added stress of setting up bank accounts and practical issues that Irish students have with this transition. I was surprised to hear that Irish students aren't classed as international students like other european students. I was left thinking can universities do more to support Irish students when they come to study in the UK?

I also really enjoyed hearing about Alison Shepherd's research findings on the role of occupational therapy support workers and how their role is perceived by OTs, OT students and OT support workers themselves. This area of research interests me as I led an #OTalk on the role of the OT assistant last month, and have worked as an OT assistant before starting the course. It was reassuring to me that Alison's findings did lean in a similar direction to the discussion during #OTalk re: banding/personal level of competencies. 

Esther Herbert shared her findings on the awareness of occupational therapy among nursing and teaching students, was thought-provoking and relevant to a profession that is increasingly highlighting the promotion of our unique services. 



Afternoon Keynote: Dr Hazel Roddam - 'Being research-active in clinical practice: what does that mean and where can you find a helping hand?' 

Photo of slide from Dr Hazel Roddam's keynote

Dr Hazel Roddam discussed being research active in clinical practice and what support is available.  

She highlighted that we don't all need to be undertaking research but we do need to be actively using research in our day to day roles. 

The more I hear about the evidence base the more I realise it's importance in decisions I will make as an occupational therapist and it's impact on my clinical reasoning when working with clients. 


As a student I am aware my opinion is changing on research, when I started this course back in September I was a firmly a 'just need to get this degree' so I can work as an OT. But as the year has gone on the more I feel inspired to help grow and develop the profession I'm set to work in. To be an active part of that journey of development. 



Closing Remarks: Prof Diane Cox 

#uocOT twitter feed

The day was summed up nicely by Prof Diane Cox, encouraging us of the importance of research and having an evidence base for our profession and challenging us to seek out the opportunities out there and take responsibility for our profession's evidence base. 

___________________________________________________


As a first year on the MSc, having the opportunity to hear about research and the practicalities of it from the 2nd year students was really helpful to me, as I start of my 'dissertation'/research journey with the Scholarship and Research methods proposal. The conference also gave me the opportunity to hear more widely about research from previous students and professionals. 

I left the conference motivated and willing to engage in research more readily.  I am also incredibly thankful to study at a university that has some amazing research minds who actively encourage their students to question everything and think critically about the things we encounter both in research and practice. 


Utilising Social Media  

#uocOT twitter 

The ability to utilise social media at the conference was a really positive one for me as it allowed me to share my thoughts on research, and the information and communications from the conference not only with other students at my course and university but also with the wider OT student population and the OT profession around the world.  A big thanks to @morriskOT and @dianecox61 for their enthusiasm for this throughout the day as it was really positive to see as lover of social media's role in helping develop thoughts, interaction and learning.

Other highlights of the day include getting to meet @GeekyOT and @Symbolic_Life in person. Social Media really does make OT such a small world...



References: 

Cox, D. (2015) 21 April. Available at: https://twitter.com/dianecox61 (Accessed 28 April 2015).

Cox, D (2015) [Closing Remarks to MScOT Student Conference] HRBO7027: Dissertation. University of Cumbria. 21st April.

Healthcare Hashtags (2015) #uocOT Transcript (2015) Available at: http://embed.symplur.com/twitter/transcript?hashtag=uocOT&fdate=04%2F20%2F2015&shour=00&smin=00&tdate=04%2F22%2F2015&thour=00&tmin=00 (Accessed: 29 April 2015).

Herbert, E. (2015) [Presentation to MScOT Student Conference] HRBO7027: Dissertation. University of Cumbria. 21st April

Jones, V.  (2015) 21 April. available at: https://twitter.com/Vicky_Jones_89 (Accessed 2 May 2015)

Morris, K (2015) 'MScOT Student Conference: Book of Abstracts and Conference Proceedings',  HRBO7027: Dissertation. University of Cumbria.

Morris, K. (2015) 21 April. Available at: https://twitter.com/morrisKOT (Accessed 23 April 2015)

Nolan, S. (2015) [Presentation to MScOT Student Conference] HRBO7027: Dissertation. University of Cumbria. 21st April.

Perryman, M (2015) Disruption Breeds Creation [Keynote Lecture to MScOT Student Conference] HRBO7027: Dissertation. University of Cumbria. 21st April.

Roddam, H (2015) 'Being research-active in clinical practice: what does that mean and where can you find a helping hand?' [Keynote Lecture to MScOT Student Conference] HRBO7027: Dissertation. . University of Cumbria. 21st April.

Shepherd, A.  (2015) [Presentation to MScOT Student Conference] HRBO7027: Dissertation. University of Cumbria. 21st April

Sørlie, C. (2015) 21 April. Available at: https://twitter.com/GeekyOT (Accessed 23 April 2015)

Week 29: PP2.1

Key Term: Getting to grips with The Care Act

[PP2 Week 1]

This week saw the start of my current practice placement which is in Adult Social Care within the council; It has been a tiring week trying to get my head around not only the services they provide and the assessments the OTs do but also beginning to get my head around the Care Act which has just come into force this month which is changing how the OTs approach their assessments and interventions. 

I've also had a chance to get to grips with the electronic notes system that is used in this setting, which I'm at least starting to feel more confident about. 

I'm looking forward to getting more hands on in the next few weeks. 

[Being a 'real' student]

Another placement away from home means another experience in 'student halls', this time on my own but thankfully closer to home so I can make it home every weekend! I decided that it would be better to move for placement to reduce the stress from commuting 5 days a week as the commute is over 2 hrs each way. But the first week in halls has actually turned out to be slightly more stressful than I would have liked due to the boilers getting changed meaning no hot water for nearly 3 days. 

I know I'm from Scotland so used to the cold but having a cold wash and trying to wash my hair in cold water in the sink was not fun! Thankfully it is back on now; It did give me time to reflect on how people who due to health conditions or who have mobility issues meaning they can't access their bath must feel having to just have a basin wash! 

[#OTalk]

Day one of placement also coincided with assignment results and my chance to co-host #OTalk which was exciting, as well as a very strange Skype chat regarding #OTalk student digital leader intern position I had applied for. This made Tuesday a very busy day & evening which I'm really glad I managed to stay awake through!! 

Now time to head back to Scotland for the weekend - Fingers crossed it's still sunny when I get there...

[Placement Blog Posts]

As with PP1, I plan to do a small blog post each week whilst on placement and then will do a longer one at the end to sum up... that's the plan at the moment anyways.

Reflections on Co-hosting #OTalk - The Role of the Occupational Therapy Assistant

Reflections on Co-hosting #OTalk - The Role of the Occupational Therapy Assistant 

After a busy first day at placement, just as the tiredness hit like a brick wall I began to co-host #OTalk with @ForesicDetail on the Role of the OT Assistant. 39 participates from around the world took part in the hour long (and a little after) to discuss the topic of the role OTAs play in the team in different clinical settings.

I was incredibly thankful to have a co-host in @ForensicDetail and the support of @Helen_OTUK on the #OTalk crew to help the discussion run smoothly. We had agreed that I would keep an eye on the time and post the questions; which became remarkably difficult when I wanted to join in the discussion too, but thankfully managed to keep on top of it! 

It was really interesting to hear the views from a range of settings, on the differing role OTAs have and the different duties they undertake; What did come across I feel from the discussion, was that the role of the OTA is valued within the therapy team. 

The #OTalk blog post has been updated to include the transcript of the discussion which is worth checking out if you are interested in the topic. 

P.s. Do look out for my upcoming blog post on the exciting news of me becoming part of the #OTalk crew as Student Digital Leader Intern. 

For more insight into my journey to become an occupational therapist; follow me on twitter: @OTontheTracks

Preparing for #OTalk - The Role of the Occupational Therapy Assistant

 The Role of the Occupational Therapy Assistant

Reflections and Thoughts whilst Preparing to co-host #OTalk

I'm really excited to have the opportunity to co-host #OTalk next Tuesday (7th April 2015 8pm-9pm) with @ForensicDetail. The Pre-chat blog can be found over on #OTalk blog. 

As you will all probably be aware if you have been reading my blog for a while or are a fellow MSc-er at Cumbria that before started the course in September I worked (and still pick up some shifts on the bank) as an Occupational Therapy Assistant in an acute adult setting, which I really enjoyed and cemented my desire to become an occupational therapist; so I do have a vested interest in the role of OTAs in different settings. 

I have been lucky to have an observation placement in another acute setting which gave me an opportunity to see how the role of OTA differed between trusts (and technically a different country); my next placement in community paediatrics highlighted a completely different role of an assistant in that setting. I have also come into contact with OTAs from different settings/wards/specialities through work and also whilst at university; so far so this has helped to expand me knowledge of the role and tasks occupational therapy assistants undertake as part of the day to day working life. 

What I have found as my understanding of the role of OTAs grows; the broader the role appears to become. It varies from setting to setting and is equally affected by the competencies of the individual but can include but not limited to: admin tasks, ADL practise, maintaining/increasing patients abilities whilst waiting for move to home/rehab, simple assessments, planning and leading treatment sessions with individuals under the OTs instruction. It is important to note the last point as OTAs aren't qualified with the theoretical knowledge of occupational therapists (Alaszweski & Meltzer, 1979 cited in Creek 2007); so input of the occupational therapists expertise is essential if occupational therapy wants to become increasingly evidence based in its practice and the client is to be given best possible experience. 

Developing in an OTA role:

I have also been thinking a lot about how an OTA can develop in their role. I was really lucky in my role as an OTA to have a supportive team who carved out time for CPD opportunities each month, to be part of a journal club that allowed me to begin to link to evidence base and also have meetings with other OTAs in the hospital to build on skills and share knowledge and experience with each other. I believe that those opportunities helped me in my decision to progress with my desire to study OT; but also helped my do my job to best of my abilities. The opportunities helped me to not only develop as an assistant but also helped me feel valued in the team as I was given the same time allocation for CPD and opportunities (journal club, and assistant groups) as the qualified OTs in the department. I also benefited from being able to share my knowledge of the department with new starts into the department such as rotational band 5s which enabled my confidence to grow in the part I played in the therapy team. 

The move from OTA to OT Student:

As I have moved to become a OT student the skills I learnt and developed in my role have been a good grounding in the profession; but I have also had to overcome a few hurdles when learning the theory behind the 'ideal' OT scenarios in practice; this has made me question the fundamentals at points and the understanding of how it should be in practice has added a sometimes unwelcome layer to my learning. This has meant that I have to be more aware of how negative aspects of practice i have experienced as an OTA can impact on my learning and also the learning of others in group learning settings so not to affect the moral of learning the theory for others. 

Also on placement it has been both a positive and a negative. Positive in the respect that my understanding of the constraints of service pressures on the role of OT, my underlying assessment, practical and observation skills and general understanding of the OT process. But also negatively in the respect (which I know is echoed by other students with an OTA background I have spoken to), sometimes educators on placement can take for granted that you know something as you have worked as an assistant; and don't always explain the roots of the things they are doing; I have also found that especially in the first couple of placements I almost wasn't sure how much I should be doing at that level but as I begin PP2 next week I think this will be much less of an issue. 

As I have mentioned before I have had the chance to meet some amazing OTAs (and OTs) whilst on my placement (and i will meet so many more as I go back out on placement), who have helped my understand the role of occupational therapy in the setting they are based in; they have also helped my learn skills in planning and leading treatment sessions and issuing and maintaining equipment which they have had expertise in. As a student I love to learn about OTAs role as well as the other MDT members because it helps me see the larger picture of how not only OT but other professions are helping the client to do what is important to them. 

#OTalk:

I hope that the discussion will allow for a greater picture of the occupational therapy assistant role in different settings, and for me as a student; increase understanding of the role they can play educating students on placement of the practice of OT in their particular setting.

New to #OTalk:

#OTalk is a twitter discussion using the hash tag - #OTalk, every Tuesday between 8pm-9pm (UK Time). It aims to hold discussion based on occupational therapy and occupational science topics. Please check out their website for more information and how you can use these discussions as part of your CPD.

Remember to add #OTalk to your tweets if you are planning to join the chat! 

References

Creek, Jennifer, and Anne Lawson-Porter, eds. Contemporary issues in occupational therapy: reasoning and reflection. John Wiley & Sons, 2007.

COT (2011) ‘Become an OT Support Worker.’ Accessed 27 January 2015. Available at: http://www.cot.co.uk/support-workers/become-ot-support-worker

Week 26: The week of the Solar Eclipse

Photo by Andrew Dickie
https://instagram.com/mybagispacked

Key Term: De-Escalate before you need to Breakaway...

I spent the first part of the week trying to shake the odd feeling that I have missed some prep somewhere.... This week's classes didn't have any prep which felt really strange after months of trying to squeeze all the reading in before getting to class. 

Placement Launch: 

We had our placement module launch on Thursday which was exciting, if not a little unnerving to think in a couple of weeks we are back out for 8 weeks. The placement profile has jumped up a few more places on the grid, which seems a BIG jump but in hindsight a lot of us where doing those things on PP1 anyways so I'm hoping that will lead us in good stead to get stuck in on PP2. 

I'm looking forward to another community placement in adult social care; I think it will lead on nicely from my community paediatrics placement but will also be quite different as it is council based rather than NHS. I imagine i will be seeing a lot of equipment and adaptions (Hopefully all the equipment I used as an assistant will give me a good starting knowledge). 

De-escalation and Breakaway Techniques:

Friday gave us the opportunity to discuss deescalation and practice breakaway techniques; It made me reflect on the challenges we may have when dealing with other humans in our day to day roles. We are privileged to work in such a diverse profession where we can work with people in such a range of settings but this could also lead us to work in challenging situations where we need to use deescalation and breakaway techniques; It strikes me that our abilities to read situations is crucial when working with clients and families. 

The Solar Eclipse:

This week also included the solar eclipse... Thankful to our tutor for letting us stand outside and watch it before starting Fridays session; Carlisle was quite cloudy but we still got the chance to see experience it, which was fab. I was quite young when the last solar eclipse happened, so remember the excitement but at age 11 don't remember much of the actual event! 

It's strange to think how much has changed in my life since the last eclipse - high school, college, university, work and now back in education! Life is full of surprises and experiences that change us and mould our future opportunities.

Week 25: Too many ideas... so little time

Key Term: Development of thinking....


Research and Scholarship & Dissertation

This week saw the launch of our dissertation module to run along side our research and scholarship one. It is actually a really positive thing as it means our supervisor for dissertation module will be there to support us with the proposal for research and scholarship which is due at the end of first year.

As always I seem to have too many ideas and not really sure how to make the best decision about which one to take forward, so I'm thankful that we are allocated a supervisor over the next week and hopefully they might help me reign it in onto a particular topic.

Slightly daunting (and also really exciting) to think i'm going to have to write a 1000 word assignment at masters level... but that is a worry for next year at this stage... 4000 word proposal is my focus for now.


Applied OT

This week helped us review what we had learnt over the last 5 weeks, which surprisingly does feel a lot more than I originally thought. It is a module that we will continue to develop out on placement and when we are back in university in June and July.  We have been focusing on information gathering and assessment as part of the OT process which is helpful to develop before we go out onto placement in a few weeks time.


Practical Sessions (Intro to OT)

This week sessions focused on hoisting and wheelchairs, which are both things I have experience in using in my role as OT assistant, so I had some knowledge which was a bonus. I am writing a separate post on these sessions so please check that out for more on the experiences.

Meaningful Occupations...

Throughout the first term at university our class has been grappling with the underpinning theory of occupational therapy, which I have at times found very challenging to get my head around. A lot of this has slowly but surely started fitting into place as the term went on and hopefully as we go out on placement after the Christmas break, it will start to make even more sense. One of the main themes we began discussing in-depth from week one is occupation (which is clearly important in an occupational therapy course). One of the concepts I struggled with getting my head around was the difference between occupations and activities and what the difference means to the engagement of a client.

Pierce (2001) states activity is an idea held be a persons mind in a shared language, It is culturally defined but not experienced by a specific person. Whereas occupation is a specific individuals personally constructed experience that can't be repeated, and which has meaning to an individual. This being the case anything and everything a person does or is involved in is an occupation to them.

In OT we look at occupations in three categories: self-care, productivity and leisure, which help individuals interact and participate in society, although i am aware that it isn't allows easy to fit occupations into one of these categories, but such occupations are still meaningful to the patient.

To help me understand this more I have been thinking a lot about meaningful occupations and how in participating in them can enhance the well being of the individual.

"Occupations are meaningful to people when they fulfil a goal or purpose that is personally or culturally important " (CAOT, 2002) 

WFOT (2004) states enabling meaningful and purposeful occupations helps promote health and well being. And as OT's that's what we aim to do in our profession. 

This week as I worked a shift as an OTA I felt I was able to actually see the importance meaningful occupations can have to patients. I was lucky to be part of some carol singing for the patients on the wards that we cover in the hospital... this doesn't seem like a big thing does it? But as we sang some Christmas carols in the middle of the wards... I got to see the reaction of patients who had come out of their rooms to join in and feel part of the experience. One man in particular who had been brought along from one of the other wards; got really emotional when we finished on the ward, asking for one of his favourite carols (which we attempted even though we were lacking the words). He commented on the way back to his ward that it was something he really enjoyed and hadn't been able to do because he was in hospital.

On further discussion with said OT,  I heard a little more of his story and it became even more clear that this occupation was incredibly important to him as he had been a minister when he was younger so the carols had a faith/spiritual aspect to him as an occupational being. He has chosen to keep this information to himself until after this encounter. I feel as a student OT it helps me to understand the importance of meaningful occupations and their effect not only on the individuals well being and participation in society but also the impact it can have on how well be get to know our patients, in turn helping how we work with them. 

At this time of year when most of us have one Christmas event or another that we are going to be it church services, nativities or socialising with friends and family, we can so often forget that patients in hospital aren't able to do these activities which they would do at home due to the limitations being in hospital imposes on them. Surely as OTs our role is to help enable our patients to participate in meaningful occupations to them, be that at home or in a hospital setting.

This particular activity which took around 40 mins of our day will have helped numerous patients on the ward engage in meaningful occupations even if as staff we don't know to what extent (since the meeting of the phrase meaningful occupations is individual to each person involved in the occupations). I think it is also a great example of patient centred care, that was able to boost the moral and emotional well being of patients who were recovering from surgery.

References

• Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists (2002). Enabling occupation. An occupational therapy perspective (Rev. ed.). Ottawa, ON: CAOT Publications ACE.
• College of Occupational Therapists (2006b) Recovering ordinary lives: the strategy for occupational therapy in mental health services, literature review. (Core.) London: COT. 
• Pierce, D.E. (2001) Untangling occupation and activity. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 55, 138 – 146.
• World Federation of Occupational Therapists (2004) Definition of occupational therapy. Available at: http://www.wfot.org.au/officefiles/ final%20definitionCM20042.pdf Accessed on 23.12.14

Week 7: PP0

Key Term: SAAFA (Practice Placement 0)

I remember someone telling me a long time ago that "you can never cross the Ocean until you have the courage to lose sight of the shore." If I'm completely honest with you, starting my MSc in OT was a big step for me. I knew I loved the field, I'd gained a lot of experience as an OTA and I knew that it was what I wanted to do. However, there was still a niggling feeling; a feeling of anxiety surrounding the step that I was taking. Would I be up to the challenge? The commute? The workload? There were a lot of unanswered questions, but I knew that if I really wanted to achieve my goals then I would have to have the courage to lose sight of what I knew.

As you may already know, the first 7 weeks have flown by, literally. I can definitely say that I was right about the challenges that I would face, but If I'm honest - I'm coping and my initial anxiety is turning more into excitement by the day.

I had been looking forward to my first proper placement as a student OT for weeks, in fact - long before I even started the course. I had been anticipating the amount of new skills and hands on experience that I would be gaining, along with the challenges of living and working in a new environment/location.

When I found out that I would be working my first placement in acute medicine I had a split reaction. Fantastic, I can use the skills and experience I've gained from being an OTA in acute surgery and put them into practice during my placement. However, at the same time I was slightly disappointed that I wouldn't be faced with a completely new experience.

Ultimately, I was completely surprised by the differences between working in a hospital setting in England compared to my previous experiences in Scotland. The differences that exist between treatment options and the process of assessment were miles a part; but both equally effective in their own way. For example, in Scotland the equipment is loaned out through a central store in each patients area, whereas in England - patients are given a prescription in which they can redeem from a list of approved retailers and not returned, or reused.

Something that I particularly admired during my placement was the fact that OTs are highly valued throughout the multi-disciplinary team in that sense that Doctor's would approach OTs to ask advice and then make decisions accordingly. The role of OT was a respected one, and honestly... it made the profession feel important.

Yet, going back to the quote I mentioned at the beginning of my blog which tells us to lose sight of the shore if we want to be challenged. If I'm being truthful, the shore was very much in my sight for the entirety of the week. I'm not saying that I wasn't challenged or that I didn't learn new and invaluable things. Instead, I felt a sense of control. I knew exactly what I was doing and I wanted to do more. I know that hospital placements differ from community placements, and I fully appreciate that - but I needed to be challenged, I needed to feel out of my comfort zone, and metaphorically speaking - I needed to be slam bang in the middle of the Ocean with no sight of the comforting shore...I needed to be lost.

This placement I was introduced to SAAFA - Structured Anchored Approach to Formative Assessment, Wilby HJ (2005); which was a new approach to me and was created in response to a number of concerns by OT's in acute physical settings regarding consistencies of the assessments they were making and also in response to the changing shape of OT in an acute setting meaning that patients are discharged from hospital sooner; in turn affecting the amount of time OT's have to do their assessment. In the acute setting I had my placement in this meant that patients are seen over less encounters and are assessed using a number of observations around there bed space as a pose to being seen over a number of occasions to do separate kitchen/washing dressing assessments. This in turn does help the team to respond to the busy environment, and deal with the long waiting list that they have in department. It is important to note though that this doesn't impact on patient care as each patient is seen on an individual basis and evaluated accordingly meaning that the OT is not hindered by the to rigid a formula when treating a patient. It also benefited from the added input which comes from the OT always speaking to the next of kin/close relative of patient to determine a rounded understanding of the patients needs and home environment.

In hindsight, am I glad that I wasn't completely paddling for my life out at sea? Yes and No. I learned a lot in the space of a week that challenged what I felt I already knew. I got the opportunity to speak with OTs and staff across the department and take advice where advice was on offer. But yes, I would have loved to be thrown in at the deep end; making assessments and being prompted for judgements.

What I can say, is that I've paddled my way out to sea, comforted by what I already know, but challenged by what lies ahead.

37.5/1000 hours done towards qualifying as an OT!

Now it's time to start the preparations for week 8...

For more insight into my journey to become an occupational therapist; follow me on twitter: @OTontheTracks

References

Wilby HJ (2005) A description of a functional screening assessment for the acute physical setting. British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 68(1), 39-44.

It's Actually Happening!

Some of you will know that for the last couple of years I have been aiming towards this point... Days shadowing OTs in different settings, working as an OT assistant; All with the aim of going to university to study Occupational Therapy.

After looking at various options and universities I decided to apply for the MSc Occupational Therapy (Pre-Reg) at The University of Cumbria. I chose this university for a number of reasons:

1. The NHS would pay my fees in England as appose to £9000 a year to study in Scotland.

2. Its the closed English university to Edinburgh that I can study the MSc at. I plan to commute to Carlisle for classes!  

3. I like the fact the Cumbria is a small university and has a really friendly feel to it. I hope this will be a place that as a student I'll be well supported.

After applying, having an interview and finally hearing I got a place... I have been gradually going through the process of completing the final checks to confirm my place which has been quite a simple process (maybe not as simple when i chose this time to move house... Changing address half way through checks, complicates things slightly).

It's Actually Happening!!

Yesterday made it all start to feel really real as I travelled down to Carlisle for the orientation day! It was great to meet other people on the course and find out a little more about the course content even if it has increased my anxiety on the workload. 

All in all I'm really excited about starting the course in September and I hope this blog will allow me to share my experience from OT assistant to OT student and then to an OT graduate. 

The blog gets it's name from the daily commute by train to get to classes. I will hopefully use the time to blog as well as do the recommend reading...