10.09.2010

Coming Soon- World OT Day!

When I saw this link listing the schedule of online speakers for World OT Day (10/27/10) I started to get really excited!
There are some very famous OTs on this lineup, including Karen Jacobs, Kit Sinclair, Erik Johnson, Michael Iwama, and
the current president of the World Federation of Occupational Therapists, Sharon Britnell. Props to Merrolee Penman, who appears to be behind the effort.

I am always seeking to learn more about occupational therapy and think that seeing the world perspective will be very interesting. I'm not sure if these sessions can be accessed at a later time- I will be working and sleeping through most of them. However, here's what I plan to catch (times EST):

2pm: Erik Johnson "Occupational therapy within a military setting" I got to see a short video from Erik during the 2010 AOTA Conference and follow his blog, so I think this will be a pretty interesting and worthwhile session. I'm going to see if we can get a group together to watch at work, and if that doesn't fly, I'm going to take a late lunch and break out the headphones.

5pm: Michael Iwama "
The Kawa model: Heralding a new paradigm in occupational therapy" I don't know a lot about the River Model and think this will be a good introduction.

The following presentation 6pm
"Re-Connecting: Using Facebook for Social Networking after an Acquired Brain Injury" looks interesting, but I have to get on the bus and get home sometime, so I'll probably have to miss it. (Same goes for 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9 which all occur during sleepytime)

7pm: Lindsay Eales & Roxanne Ulanicki "iDance: Transformative Occupations" Looks very unique and awesome, I expect to see many more OTs involved in dance, gymnastics, and other wellness outlets in the future.

8pm: Annette Rivard "The power of professional commitment" self explanatory

9pm: Sharon Brintnell "Images of now and visions for the future" also self explanatory. If you've ever been to an AOTA conference and felt the energizing rush following the president's speech, you know how instrumental that can be for taking momentum home with you and putting new learning into practice. I expect nothing less from our WFOT leader.

It seems that watching these sessions would count towards renewal through NBCOT under "attending workshops/courses/independent learning" (refer to renewal PDF) and depending on your state may count for license renewal as well.

Don't forget that week is also the time for OT Wikiflash, a time for mass editing of Wikipedia to better reflect Occupational Therapy. If you're new to wiki editing, get registered and play in the sandbox now so you can be ready. This is a great way to achieve our Centennial Vision goal of being "widely recognized." I've previously lauded a pediatric blogger for her prolific work on Ehow; Claire Hayward, Anita Hamilton and Will Wade have been active in promoting this event.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

World OT day is such a great concept! I think it’s great that our profession has this because it can expose many people to OT who may not have been exposed otherwise. Though some individuals may still think that occupational therapy is just like PT or means that we as therapists simply find people jobs there are also many individuals who do recognize OT for the wonderful profession that it is! I am in my last year of graduate school and I remember back to my Sr. year in high school when I decided I wanted to major in OT. That was only 5 years ago and even in that short amount of time I feel that there is much more of an awareness of OT currently then there was then. I think a lot of that has to do with AOTAs effort to raise awareness through different venues such as lobbying/legislation and through the advocacy section on their website. Raising awareness for the profession has been one of my favorite parts of the OT program. I have had the opportunity to visit several area schools in my hometown and give interactive presentations on the many facets of OT. I love sharing my knowledge and introducing students to the world of OT!

Unknown said...

World OT day is such a great concept! I think it’s great that our profession has this because it can expose many people to OT who may not have been exposed otherwise. Though some individuals may still think that occupational therapy is just like PT or means that we as therapists simply find people jobs there are also many individuals who do recognize OT for the wonderful profession that it is! I am in my last year of graduate school and I remember back to my Sr. year in high school when I decided I wanted to major in OT. That was only 5 years ago and even in that short amount of time I feel that there is much more of an awareness of OT currently then there was then. I think a lot of that has to do with AOTAs effort to raise awareness through different venues such as lobbying/legislation and through the advocacy section on their website. Raising awareness for the profession has been one of my favorite parts of the OT program. I have had the opportunity to visit several area schools in my hometown and give interactive presentations on the many facets of OT. I love sharing my knowledge and introducing students to the world of OT!

Unknown said...

As a student of OT,I have not heard of World OT day and I am so glad I came across this post! I think having a day dedicated to OT is what our profession needs. In class we are always talking about ways to advocate for OT and ways to get our name out there more in the public. unfortunately not many people fully understand the role of OT and I think this is a great way to promote us!
The topics the guest speakers plan to talk about seem great. Being on fieldwork and talking with teachers, a lot of our practicing OT's are in a "rut" and do the same types of therapy. In some settings we look similar to PT. I feel having a day like this may open some therapist's eyes to new things going on in the OT world, and try new forms of intervention. TO bad I didn't catch this blog before world OT day happened. Hopefully the sessions can still be accessed.

Unknown said...

Occupational therapy is one of the best therapies and it covers life's major areas like emotional, mental and psychological issues which are untouched in other therapeutic practices. It deserves to be given a special day. It will show its importance to society nd will bring many to it which ultimately help suffering people. its no doubt a great idea..must be done.