Q & A with Rosalind Brooks and Sherri Kapadia
During the summer RCOT hosted two eight-week internships . Here they give us a glimpse into what the experience was like .
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Ros , why did you apply for the professional practice internship ?
In all honesty , I was not sure what I wanted to do after my MSc and this seemed like an opportunity to learn new things and get some experience before looking for more permanent work . I also had been critical of RCOT during my studies and wanted to see how the organisation worked on the inside .
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Sherri , what did you expect from the research and development internship ?
When I first got the job , I wasn ’ t exactly sure what my day-to-day work would entail . My initial thoughts were around assisting with data collection and some critical analysis work . So before starting , the research and development manager set up a call with me and outlined three key projects I would be working on ; this set me up well for the internship and gave me a good sense of direction across the two months .
My work was structured around three main projects : critically analysing literature for a guideline being produced by RCOT ; assisting with developing an Evidence Spotlight resource on primary care ; and creating a CPD resource for occupational therapy learners .
The value of these three projects is that they allowed me to work with individuals across the organisation , while also allowing me to share my perspectives on how certain resources were developed .
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Ros , a proportion of your work focused on developing a service example framework for occupational therapists , to outline how they are working to overcome health inequalities . What did you enjoy most about this project and what challenged you ?
The scope of the task was challenging . In my first week I watched a whole range of speakers at the RCOT Annual Conference , then read the Marmot report and started talking to the team at RCOT . Health inequalities have such a broad impact and there are so many different aspects that need to be addressed , so I just started by researching .
I really enjoyed the challenge of the process . I had an idea of how occupational therapy is well placed to address health inequalities , but until I got deep into the research , I wouldn ’ t have been able to articulate the breadth of impact .
It was important for me to create an open framework to allow people to express different stories . I ended
Through this internship I got an opportunity to use my knowledge to engage in some of the work that goes into shifting ideas , influencing policy and shaping the conversation .”
56 OTnews January 2022