Occupational therapist and PhD student Aleysha Martin reflects on her international research placement experience at RCOT , to explore progress with the top 10 research priorities for occupational therapy in the UK .
Exploring progress with the top 10 research priorities for occupational therapy in the UK
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Occupational therapist and PhD student Aleysha Martin reflects on her international research placement experience at RCOT , to explore progress with the top 10 research priorities for occupational therapy in the UK .
H
ello ( or g ’ day ) from Australia . I ’ m Aleysha Martin , a PhD student and occupational therapist based at the Mater Research Institute and University of Queensland , in Australia , and between April and July this year , I had the pleasure of joining RCOT in London for the first international and PhD student placement it has hosted .
Some questions may come to your mind at this point , such as : Why travel over 20 hours from Australia to join RCOT for a research placement ? What can an Australian occupational therapist and PhD student offer RCOT and occupational therapists in the UK ? And what ’ s next for the top 10 research priorities ?
Why travel all this way ?
I have three main reasons why I came to the UK to do a research placement with RCOT . My first was simple ; the opportunity to contribute to occupational therapy research , wherever the location , is invaluable .
From my experience in the workforce , research is something that occupational therapists can shy away from , as it seems daunting , dry , or time consuming . However , research underpins what we do as a profession and the people doing occupational therapy research have the privilege of shaping the future direction of the profession and the opportunity to improve outcomes for people accessing services . This is why I ’ m doing a PhD and why I embraced the opportunity .
My second was that the placement presented an opportunity to grow my professional networks internationally and gain research experience . I met with staff from RCOT and practised research skills , including literature searching , conducting and transcribing interviews , data analysis , and writing and presenting results .
42 OTnews December 2023