The Journey of an OT: Uni Days
The first instalment of our series "The journey of an OT" — drawing back the curtain on student days, favourite (and least favourite) classes, and 1000 hours of placement.
Welcome back to the Functional Fix. This month is our first instalment of the series “The journey of an OT”!
Over the next three months, you will enjoy insights into the experiences of an OT from the very start (uni days!) to the present (what does our day to day look like now). Today, we draw back the curtain on those student days!
Let’s go back to the start….
The Bachelor of Occupational Therapy is a four-year degree. Looking back, the learnings were so thorough and valuable, even if at the time, it felt like an overload of information. I think most OTs would agree that initially, the biggest challenge at university was understanding – what does an OT actually do?!
It probably comes as no surprise that a key focus throughout university was learning how to explain the role of an OT. To be honest, this is still a struggle with all these years into our career! Now though, it is not a lack of understanding of our role but knowing how entirely broad it is. Summarising this is a sentence can be HARD! In the early days of uni, I recall describing OT to family and friends as “if physio and social work had a baby.” What was I thinking?!
Overall, we completed 30+ units of study (classes). Some we loved and some we hated:
Introduction to Anatomy and Physiology – LOVED this class, would be so valuable to complete as a refresher now!
Communication and Diversity – This was super interesting.
Impact of Health Conditions on Occupational Performance – I would redo this class in an instant if I could. Wish I listened more thoroughly!
Occupations in Childhood Development – HATED this class. So many milestones to learn and it just didn’t spike my interest.
Neurological Structure, Function and Plasticity – LOVED this class. I recently found my exam study notes whilst moving house and have been referring to them often.
Occupation Across the Lifespan – I remember this being the “bludge” class. Another one I wish I had paid more attention to!
Evidence-Based Occupational Therapy Practice – At the time, this felt like a drag. Now, I am so glad I learned these skills, keeping up to date with robust evidence is a key foundation of practice.
Psychosocial Influences on Occupational Performance – This was such a great unit, with a really challenging practical exam.
Promoting Occupational Engagement Through Assistive Technology – LOVED this class. I recall doing an assignment where we were asked to script a wheelchair for a MS client. We then had to report on our clinical reasoning. This was before the rollout of the NDIS but it was so aligned with the AT reports we do today. Deakin were ahead of the game!
Placement was a BIG part of university
Overall, 1000 hours were completed. We would put in our clinical preferences (and you would often be given the complete opposite) and allocations would be made. Placements varied from aged care to community mental health to hospital wards to primary schools. Some did their placements in forensics. It was not uncommon for placement to be hours from home. Placements varied from 2 weeks to 8 weeks full time. Placement is unpaid, so most of us worked our part-time jobs outside of placement hours. For me, it was inpatient rehab by day, Liquorland by night. Terrible for energy conservation and fatigue management!
Throughout university, another big question was; what area of OT do I want to work in? My cohort was split; half were dead set on paediatrics and the other half on a rotational hospital role. As mentioned, I did not enjoy our childhood development class, so I fell into the latter category. We all knew how competitive rotational hospital roles were, but at the time it felt like the ultimate goal and the best way to learn through exposure. Was I lucky enough to land my dream role straight out of uni? Find out in next month’s instalment of the Functional Fix!!
Senior Occupational Therapist & Team Lead
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