Why I Want To Be An Occupational Therapist

Occupational Therapy is a profession primarily centred around client-therapist interactions. The main objective of an occupational therapist (OT) is to empower and assist their clients in their return to everyday life and activities. Occupational therapists work with their clients for extended periods of time in order to ensure that they are able to participate in their normal daily routines with some degree of ease. OT's achieve this goal through building trust and rapport with their clients by representing themselves with the highest degree of professional identity and following the codes of conduct, to which ensures safety to all involved in the achievement of this goal. As occupational therapists work closely with a number of different

As we all knew that occupational therapy provide a practical and relevant interventions that let people improve their quality of the daily life.

Occupational therapy is a health profession dedicated to supporting people in living their lives with meaning

I have always had the intense desire to care and look after people from a very young age. I firmly believe that everyone deserves the best quality of life possible and this is what had drawn me to occupational therapy as a career path in the first place. It is so easy to take for granted all the everyday tasks we can do and we seldom consider the effect of not being able to complete them. As an occupational therapist I would be able to make a positive impact on someone’s life and make it possible for them to enjoy their life. I want the opportunity to provide support to people, help them gain independence and watch them grow more confident in their own ability. I want to be part of such a rewarding career.

As a first generation student to attend college from a family of seven, the journey to a higher education has been arduous and overwhelming. My family gives me all the encouragement I need and are very optimistic about pursuing a higher degree. Unlike myself, my parents did not have the opportunity to attend college. My parents were born and raised in a small town in Mexico where the highest level of education they received was fifth grade. I have worked since I was 14 years old to support my parents with bills, and also saving for college and my own vehicle. I have not had any interruptions during my education, because I was able to balance work, babysitting, studying, and attending class on time. Although I managed not having any interruptions

The place I decided to carry out my job shadowing experience is at Select Physical Therapy. During my time there, I decided to shadow an Occupational therapist who specialized in hand therapy. I wanted to shadow an Occupational Therapist because at the time, I was interested in becoming an Occupational Therapist and I wanted to see if this is really the career path I wanted to take.

My placement was at Toronto Rehab at the Lyndhurst location. I was placed in a seating clinic to work with neurological clients who either have a spinal cord injury, spina bifida, polio or general decline in function regarding their posture. I was assigned to work with Andree Gauthier; she has twelve years of experience when it comes to wheelchair seating and positioning. My placement started from March 6 to April 7 and my work hours are 8:30am to 4:30pm. From my previous intermediate placement, I had the opportunity to do an inventory of all mobility aides residents use at the LTC home. I was able to utilize my previous knowledge and applied my skills in the seating clinic. At the seating clinic, they provide wheelchair seating assessments for custom made backrest and cushion for the clients. Clients may also require specialized drive controls or have chronic postural and skin issues where past interventions have been unsuccessful. I had the opportunity to experience many learning opportunities at the seating clinic that will help me in my future practice as a health care professional.

For the past three years, I have spent a substantial amount of time observing this field from various perspectives. If I had to choose a particular instance that helped me gain knowledge and a more intense drive for the occupational therapy field the most, it would have to be my first place of employment after undergrad. I had the pleasure of working with the Jackson Public School District as a Special Needs

One of the reasons I want to become an Occupational Therapist Assistant is to help people who have been diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome. Albert Einstein once said “Everybody is a genius, but if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” People with Asperger’s syndrome are often misjudged because of their “disabilities.”

To me occupational therapy is a dynamic, rewarding, challenging, and inspiring field where I can fully realize my skills and knowledge. Having always been a firm believer in the patient-centric approach, I am passionate about providing excellent service to patients by improving their performance, preventing illness and disability and promoting adaptation to life

It seems like yesterday when I was in high school trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my future. When I thought about the career I would want to pursue I was having trouble picturing myself in the type of work I would be most satisfied in. Around this same time, I suffered a sports injury and had to receive physical therapy in order to heal. This is what initially got me interested in working in rehab. This, I’m sure, is the way many young people become interested in physical therapy. It clicked for me because a physical therapist was the first career I could picture myself as, no other career choice I could so easily see myself doing. So, after I had this revelation I started to pursue higher education in the health sciences and tried to become more familiar with the rehab environment.

Pediatric occupational therapists have the responsibility to teach children and their parents how they can make commendations to improve the child’s quality of life. Although occupational therapists are do not teach academics, which are all extremely important, they teach lifestyle changes. Teachers enable their students to overcome their struggles and improve, just like occupational therapists do. Humans have the desire to learn and I want to teach children how to live their lives to the

The field of Occupational Therapy kept growing. During the 1960s, as a medicine became “specialized”, so did OT. Occupational Therapists were also called upon and qualified to treat in the fields of pediatrics and developmental disabilities.

Occupational therapy allows a patient to work towards the goal of being able to perform basic everyday functional tasks. Therapy will differ for each patient, providing purposeful tasks that will allow the most growth for the specific individual needs. Being able to be an independent individual that can perform functional tasks is something that most people strive for, and if something happened that altered this way of life, it can be very stressful and even feel dehumanizing to the patient. Striving for independence and working with the therapists is something that will positively affect the patient's quality of life.

Occupational therapy saved my family. Growing up with a sister with severe spastic cerebral palsy to include both cognitive and functional deficits, life existed on a day to day, hour by hour basis, as we were unsure of challenges each moment would bring. This all changed the moment occupational therapy brought quality of life back to me and my family. My very personal experience defined my purpose to become an occupational therapist, to pay the gift given my family forward.