Occupational Therapy News OTnews October 2018

FEATURE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT Working in research – a viable option for occupational therapists? Solei Naisbett-Jones and Katrina Bannigan argue that while it can be a challenge to make working in research viable, the research world is actually the occupational therapist’s oyster W 40 OTnews October 2018 wider occupational therapy community what we had learnt. Whilst you read this, it might be helpful to reflect on how research is an integral part of the occupational therapy role. Whether you work as a clinician, manager, academic, educator or student, occupational therapy relies on research. We hope to show that many new opportunities are opening up, and that working in research may not be as unrealistic as you may have initially thought. So what roles are available for occupational therapists wanting to work in research? Postgraduate positions, such as a PhD and MSc, were described as research roles by participants within the #OTalk discussion. For example, advanced clinical practitioner opportunities were mentioned. Some of these roles have a salary attached, others offer flexible pathways. These enable occupational therapists to develop their skills and knowledge in research and evidence-based practice, which they can then apply to occupational therapy practice in clinical academic roles or use as a stepping stone to another research role (see page 41). hilst research is a recognised part of the work of an occupational therapist, it is not always clear how you can work as a researcher in occupational therapy. Are there any financially secure research jobs? Are research jobs only fixed or short term, rather than permanent contracts? Do you have to combine research work with another role? It was questions such as these that led the ROTTERS curry club (@ROTTERsPlym @ROTTERsExeter @rotterstruro), a group for occupational therapists interested in research and continuous professional development (CPD) (Hocking et al 2017), to choose research careers as the topic for the Research #OTalk they hosted in June this year. We wanted to explore whether working in research is a viable option for occupational therapists. The questions we posed in the #OTalk (2018) discussion prompted some useful suggestions (see page 42). Occupational therapists working in research also joined in the discussion. In the light of this we thought it was worth summarising and sharing with the

Occupational Therapy News OTnews October 2018 | Page 40