OT across the US

October 15, 2010
by Yao

What are OS/OT?

From California to the Midwest OT is everywhere. 😊

If you’re like me you’ve heard the infamous question “What is OT?” a million and a half times and each time I answer it’s a little different depending on the person I’m talking to in order to make sure it is something meaningful to them so they understand the scope of OT and what occupational therapists really do. This weekend I have the pleasure of going home for a friend’s wedding, back to Packer country (Wisconsin), YAY! I love it out here! Anyways on my flight from LAX to Milwaukee I started talking to the passengers around me about where we were headed and one passenger had made a comment about how UCLA was THE school to go to and USC was just for spoiled children. Well I had to say something! I piped up and politely mentioned that I was a graduate student at USC and I was very proud to go to USC. He asked what I was going for and why I didn’t choose UCLA and my simple answer was that USC was not only a top school in the field number 1 on the West coast and 1-3 Nationally and internationally but UCLA didn’t have a graduate program in occupational therapy. That struck a chord with him as he recently had his knees replaced. And all of a sudden he dove into a story about his occupational therapists, what he knew about the profession and what areas we could practice in. It was like listening to myself talk to someone when they asked “what is occupational therapy?” He was so passionate about how much OT had helped in his recovery and how it was the only therapy that he looked forward to. Then in all seriousness he looks at me and said “My OT was a Trojan and she changed my life.”

My heart immediately melted, I wanted to cry. Then we continued that conversation about where I was and how my studying was going. But hearing that really re-validated my love for our profession even though its a struggle sometimes to explain how OTs can really make a difference it’s all worth it when you hear that you made a difference in at least one person’s life. So even when it feels like we’re fighting an uphill battle getting people exposed to Occupational Therapy and all it has to offer remember that we’re in an amazing profession that really changes lives. 😊

⋯