Year 2: Week 47 & 48 - One Assessment to Go!

Week 47 & 48: So very nearly there!!!

When mind mapping goes wrong....

Straight out of placement and straight into manic preparations for my last viva! Who needs sleep anyways! It was easy to establish that I can't study at home, its far to distracting! Everyone talks about having the right study area, a desk good lighting, and all your resources available to you! But for some reason this didn't put it for the last assignment and I needed to explore other options.

I am going to blog about the Occupational Role with Refugee and Asylum Seekers (which was my service area) when I get a moment so won't talk about it in this post!

Study venues considered & trailed over the process:

1. Debenhams Cafe Ocean Terminal - Free wifi, generally pleasant and mostly occupied by elderly couples enjoying lunch. This created a positive space to study as there was limited distractions. I could plug my headphones in and focus.

Taking over a bench in Ocean Terminal

2. Costa Coffee Ocean Terminal - Free wifi, good cake. Alternative to the Debehams cafe, wifi was much more usable however, coffee shop always busy and tables quite small, meaning harder to type and write at same time.

3. Costa Coffee George Street - Free Wifi, comfy seating and larger tables, worked well for a change of scenery.

4. Starbucks Ocean Terminal - Free wifi - lots of plug sockets so I often used this towards end of the day with laptop battery was low, only problem was the smell of coffee was often a distraction.

5. Gym - Primarily used when listening to recordings of information whilst doing a gentle 'wander' on the treadmill.

6. Ocean Terminal general seating - Last resort when everywhere was busy, and laptop battery had died, used seating to read over and highlight journals and notes.

Im thankful that although I did most of my prep in these two weeks, I had already started reading journals and articles on topic area whilst on placement to enable me to really focus on what my service idea was going to look like. It still help chaotic and on reflection I wish I had done more of the prep before finishing placement, but it just wasn't doable whilst on placement as I was so exhausted and focused on working on that.

I must mention the massive support my friends were in these two weeks, listening and asking questions about my service so that I could work out what I was actually 'selling' during the viva.

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

Year 2 Week 5: Distraction is Key

Key Term: Distraction is key...

... key to not panicking about a formative assignment for at least 30 mins anyways.

Let me explain; Now it is slightly long and descriptive but stay with me; if you can...

Last week when I was meeting my PAT, we discussed the impact of those distraction moments, when you are consumed with worry; you know the ones, that distract you for a wee bit and make you smile and forget for that time the worry and anxieties you might have. This week I had one of those moments; On Tuesday we had our formative assignment for Applied OT; which was a presentation of the specialist area we plan to cover in our viva which is in just over a weeks time. Normally I am consumed by worry before having to speak in front of people for at least the whole day until the point of having to speak (if not days before). But this week I had arranged to meet someone to discuss using twitter for half an hour at lunch time. Now normally I would have said no to such a request so close to an activity that I know increases my anxiety levels because I'm not very productive in those hours before as my worry increases. But since it was the only mutual time available I decided that on this occasion Id work around it and give it a bash. I'm so glad that I did, because although I was extremely worried on the journey down like normal; having this meeting actually did what we had discussed last week and distracted me and made me smile; for half an hour I wasn't panicking about what Id say or that everyone would be looking at me. I was discussing an occupation I enjoy engaging in and sharing knowledge and feeling normal. Don't get me wrong I was still super worried in the 10-15 mins before and had a mild freak out just as I started speaking; but for half an hour I didn't feel that way and that was a huge thing for me. 

It strikes me of the importance engaging in meaningful occupations and how it can impact on your physical and mental wellbeing. We talk a lot about activities and occupations as occupational therapists and we as a profession fight for the occupational rights of our service users and clients because we understand the impact occupations can have on a person; and although this example is quite simplistic I wanted to share that it times of stress; activities that distract can be positive for the individuals involved. I have seen this in many of the people I have worked with as well in physical settings; how engaging in a board game or a game of cards can give that person time away from thinking about their illness and improve their mood. 

Planning and prepping for the aforementioned viva is ongoing and is still feeling like a major challenge, but I guess they never said a masters would be easy. This time last year I was freaking out about submitting a 1000 word essay (how I wish we only had to do that amount now) and a year on; new assignment formats still in still same reaction. But this time I feel it is reasonable since I know my working memory isn't great; the challenge of remembering authors and dates feels like a mountain to climb...

This week also included leading the Welcome to OT #OTalk,  which I am going to blog separately about as it will probably be a longer post, and I have already written quite a lot in this one. But I think It was a successful chat and I'm glad I was able to be part of it. 

Towards the end of the week, we were looking about Political Competence within our class discussions; and I was struck afresh by the varying factors that can impact on a persons occupational engagement.  Hammell (2008) discusses  that it is the occupational right of every individuals to engage in meaningful occupations; No matter their race, sex, stage of life or whether the are ill or have a disability. But as a society does our culture and services make this possible? As an occupational therapy student; It strikes me that it will always be a fight we'll be fighting as graduates continually as we navigate funding cuts and local and national policy; When I cam to university to study OT, I don't think I ever really thought about the bigger picture you know past wanting to qualify as an occupational therapist and that's what being on the course allows. I have been in conversations over the summer about how keen I am to get going and work; but there is still so much to learn... and so little time!

Now back to the pile of books...

I'll leave you with this lovely video for #OTWeek15, that has been stuck in my head since I watched it on Thursday; it's by the BSc 2nd Year students at uni, Pretty awesome if you ask me.





References

Hammell, K. W. (2008). Reflections on... well-being and occupational rights. The Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 75(1), 61.

Year 2 Week 4

When mind-mapping goes wrong...

A week filled with visits, meetings, classes and assignment preparation. 

Visit to meet my Placement Educator:

I start PP3 in under a month and it's my first mental health placement, which is a little bit scary since it's only a 6 week placement at level 6 so it doesn't give much time to get familiar with the setting before getting stuck in. It feels like in this one I really need to hit the ground running. 

For that reason I decided to visit and meet my educator before starting the placement (which on previous placements I haven't done either due to location or after speaking to my educator not felt was necessary). I'm so glad I did this as it has reduced my anxiety about starting in a new setting that is outwith my comfort zone, and has actually has increased my desire to get started and get going with less of the unknowns that come when you start the placement. 

Learning about Vocational Rehab:

This weeks classes focused on Vocational Rehab as a specialised area of OT and i found this really interesting. Before starting on the course, one of the OT settings I shadowed was within vocational rehab for a individuals with mental health conditions and it was a really interesting setting with lots of extra skills that helped individuals manage their hunt for a job and also the process of settling into their new role. 

It is such a great opportunity for an occupational therapist to use their core skills mixed with the more specialist skills of jobs, the person and the environment in which people work in. As OTs we understand the importance of doing in helping a persons overall well being, so can see the benefits of a person being in employment or even volunteering. But we can also understand the impact that working environment can have good or bad so it's important that an individual is in a role they enjoy or can at least see the point in.

Unfortunately I missed the second class due to being unwell, which was a shame as the topic was really interesting. 

Assignment Prep:

As i mentioned in last weeks blog, our next assignment is in the form of a VIVA which we haven't done before, so that is has the normal fear of the unknown. Unfortunately I can't seem to find any info on preparing for VIVAs on the university skills site which is a bit of a pain, and a search of youtube hasn't helped either. I am told its a discussion but it makes it really hard to prepare for. I decided as I'm a visual learner that making a mind map might help, but as you can see above that didn't really go to plan and now I can't decide if that is far to much information to be learning for a 30 min discussion. I also think the more I read the more confused I am sometimes getting. However a quick look back at my blog from this time last year has reminded me that confusion is good... as it shows you understand something enough to go deeper, so at least that can give me some confidence I am questioning it more (hopefully).  I'm glad I picked an area of OT I'm interested in and the fact I know it will benefit me when I start my elective placement is a bonus to trying to remember all the details. 

#OTalk - Welcome to OT:

This week has also included some last minute prep for next Tuesday's (20th October) Welcome to OT #OTalk. Please join in if you are around, whether you are a new student, a student with some experience to share or and OT we would love to have you there to share with the new intake of OT students. It is also a great chat to get involved in if you haven't tried #OTalk before as it is a nice informal one to give you a chance to get the hang of it. The blog post for the chat is available by clicking here.


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