The Journey of an OT: Employment
The second instalment of our “Journey of an OT” series follows Jess from her first role in aged care through community practice, inpatient rehabilitation and finding her home at Four Point Therapy.
Welcome back to the Functional Fix. Last month was the first chapter in our series, “The Journey of an OT”, where we gave insight into the start of the journey: the university days. We left you on a cliffhanger: was I lucky enough to land my dream role straight out of uni?
I was not. I didn’t even get an interview, just a pile of “better luck next time” emails.
What to do now?!
Other than bathe in my own tears…? Apply for other roles.
I finally landed an interview for an aged care role. Shortly after, I was offered the job!
Working in aged care was a gentle way to start my OT career. The residents were beautiful, kind people, which created the ideal environment to find my feet. During my time in this role, I built my skills in functional assessment and review, prescription of assistive technology and manual handling practices.
I decided I was ready for a new challenge and applied for an NDIS community role. The role introduced me to the forever-changing NDIS world and my most hated of the acronyms: KPIs.
Whilst I really loved the client work, an unrealistic KPI target and daily “billables” occupied my brain space. There was very little time available to learn about the complexities of the NDIS and get the best outcomes for my clients. I worked well outside of my hours, with little reward.
I thought about leaving this job every day, then COVID-19 hit. As the world shut down, our work as “essential workers” continued, but with many changes. I remember conducting an assistive technology trial in a car park, with all involved at separate corners, observing each other from a distance.
Because of COVID, I stayed in this role longer than I would have, but about a year into the pandemic I left for a role in inpatient rehabilitation.
Inpatient rehabilitation
It was still peak COVID, so layers of PPE were so on trend. This role was fast-paced and COVID regulations made discharge planning a chaaaaaallenge! I learned the inner workings of the hospital system and really enjoyed the proximity to other Allied Health professionals.
I did not love bed pressure, ratios and the often-short time we got to spend with our patients. I was hesitant to go back into community work; I couldn’t go back to KPIs.
Finding the right fit
I applied for and landed a role within a not-for-profit organisation specialising in supporting people with low vision and blindness.
There was a lot to learn, but this time I was afforded the time and access to all the professional development I needed to build my skills. I really loved this role. Specialising allowed me to focus on one area, rather than feeling like I needed to know everything about everything — OTs get it.
I enjoyed this role and had no intention of leaving, until a friend told me about a role she had started. The company was called All for Once Health (IYKYK). It was a very small team run by Allied Health professionals, with caseload autonomy.
I had a chat with one of the directors and was offered a role. This turned out to be the best career decision of my life and, four years on, I still work for this company — but they are now called Four Point Therapy.
My role at Four Point Therapy allows me to balance clinical and team lead work and is incredibly fulfilling.
Thank you for getting this far. Next month, we are going to bring you the therapists of Four Point Therapy and an insight into what a day in the life looks like!
Senior Occupational Therapist & Team Lead
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