Occupational Therapy News OTnews October 2019 | Page 37

CAREER DEVELOPMENT FEATURE
UK and the impact could be immense if every occupational therapist
carried out a session in their school or college.
We can all do something – whether big or small – to help people
understand what we do and to see the huge potential occupational
therapy can have on their lives. Combined, this will have a massive
impact. The question is, what will you do?
Join your
fellow
members
for a day of
networking,
interactive
sessions,
sharing best
practice and
much more.
Ticket information and
event programme
coming soon.
rcot.co.uk
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References
Gash (2018) Time to change our professions narrative – let’s have a new
story. Available online at: https://otcoach.com/2018/06/12/time-to-
change-our-professions-narrative-lets-have-a-new-story/ [accessed 8
September 2019]
Deborah Hewson is a senior lecturer and admissions tutor at The
University of Northampton and co-chair of the national Occupational
Therapy Admissions Tutor Forum.
Ashby S, Adler J and Herbert L (2016) An
exploratory international study onto occupational
therapy students’ perceptions of professional
identity. Australian Occupational Therapy Journal
63(4): 233-243
their students to go back to the school that they had gone to, or a
local school if they were not close to home, and carry out a session
promoting occupational therapy.
Several admissions tutors took the idea back to their institutions
and a number of students from five different institutions went to
schools and promoted occupational therapy during last year’s
Occupational Therapy Week.
A social media hashtag #OTbacktoschool was used for the
campaign in the hope that both students and qualified occupational
therapists could engage with this idea.
If we want to see more occupational therapists trained to fill our
vacancies and if we want more understanding of what we do; we
must do something about it. A shared approach to promoting our
profession will be much more effective and powerful.
So, if you are near your local school, or opt to go to any school
near you, take a moment to promote our wonderful profession and
share it on social media using the hashtag #OTbacktoschool.
There are over 38,500 registered occupational therapists in the
Whitcombe SW (2013) Problem-based learning
students’ perception of knowledge and
professional identity: occupational therapists as
‘knowers’. British Journal of Occupational Therapy
76(1): 37-42
SAVE THE DATE
RCOT Members’ Day
and BAOT/RCOT Annual General Meeting (AGM)
Tuesday 30 June 2020
Old Trafford Football Stadium, Manchester
F R E E F O R M E M B E R S
N217
30/09/2019 10:21
OTnews October 2019 37