OTs Centennial Vision--why OTs don't give massages

Well, it happened again.

While in the financial aid office a gentleman that I occasionally speak with in passing asked me about my course of study. When I replied 'Occupational Therapy' he said, 'Oh, so you'll be giving people massages and stuff.'

I was mildly irritated.

However, I responded very calmly, 'No, I won't give anyone a massage as massage therapists give people massages. Occupational therapists help people who have been injured or have a disease regain or perform daily activities. These types of activities can be relatively simple, such as combing your hair, to something like putting on a pair of jeans, which is surprisingly a very complex, involved action.'

I'm really making the effort to not get irritated. When I really think about it it's probably the profession's fault that OT is not recognized for what it really is. As OTs and future OTs we have to take full responsibility for this.

This is partly the reason why AOTA (the American Occupational Therapy Association) has commissioned a Centennial Vision. I first heard about the Centennial Vision from my OT blogger idol Karen Dobyns (Go Karen!), you can find her blog here and learn all about why she's my idol. She's awesome!

Anyway, the Centennial Vision is incredible because one of its goals is that OT is widely recognized:

"We envision that occupational therapy is a powerful, widely recognized, science-driven, and evidence-based profession with a globally connected and diverse workforce meeting society's occupational needs." --AOTA

AOTA and the occupational therapy profession have a 100-year birthday in 2017 and the goal is the realize this Vision. It would be an awesome birthday present to myself, AOTA, other OTs and the general community.

So, naturally, I'll continue to mention the Vision throughout this blog. It's really my goal that you, my dear, beloved readers, have a clearer understanding of, and appreciation for (and EXCITEMENT!!! like myself!) occupational therapy.

So I said all that to say that this is why I did not get angry when speaking to that gentleman earlier today. He's gotta learn somehow...

An 'interesting' semester

Well, I'm too tired to write about Costa Rica right now. I think I will have to write bits and pieces here and there. But I was able to successfully explain OT in spanish many times over. Hooray for me!

My second semester of 7 total semesters started two weeks ago (I did EXCEPTIONALLY well last semester...emphasis on EXCEPTIONALLY). Because of the super cold weather we've been having here I just can't seem to adjust and get into this semester. I'm very uncomfortable because I dislike the cold. Grrrr. I've decided to move away from here. The weather makes me sad. I secretly believe cold weather is evil.

So, my classes this semester are:
*Research (this one is going to be...interesting. If you're one of my professors reading this I mean that in a good way) (kinda)
*Theories in OT
*Movement Analysis II (lower body) w/lab
*Anatomy (lower body) w/lab
*Physiology of Disease (another one that's...interesting)

My schedule is different this semester in that I have less free time between classes BUT we finish school about 1.5 hours earlier than last semester. I like this setup better. I feel like I have more daylight hours and more free time to myself. The only 'interesting' thing about this semester is that some of my classes are more involved and require lots of time and independent research.

It's going to be an 'interesting' semester.

I'm back! Costa Rica was wonderful!

I'm back from Costa Rica! The trip was marvelous, lovely, wonderful and all the other incredible adjectives you can think of. I'm in a bit of a hurry now and won't be able to write again until next Wed, but I'll be sure to update this blog on Costa Rica and on class (which started on Monday).

Thanks for sticking with me and being patient!