Long time, no blog…

I have to apologise for my absence of late. Uni has been crazy manic and I’m now on my second practice placement.

I’ll update properly when I’m on top of things a little better. Apologies agin

Almost there…

First of all, you can now get to me by using this address : http://www.ot-student.co.uk – the current address for this blog was from an old, angsty incarnation of my life

Secondly, we’re now in the final stretch of term one, and the stress is kicking in. So apologies for the lack of updates. I have three presentations, a report to write and case studies and the like to catch up on – and my body is not enjoying this stress at all. My skin has never looked quite so horrendous!

The redeeming factor is that everyone else in my cohort is feeling pretty much the same. Old stress behaviours are kicking in and people who’d given up smoking are back sheltering in the cold between lectures, the eternally organised are wondering where their diaries have gone and the rest of us are queuing for the chocolate vending machine in every small break we get. As a cohort, we’re experiencing this awful stress together.

Which is really quite nice. And pretty awful as well, because you know that it’s not just you and you know how bad everyone else is feeling as well. We’re also starting to ponder where our next placements will be which I think is adding to everyone’s discomfort.

The trouble is, I don’t really have a plan. That’s what I’m finding difficult. The lack of a plan. Last year I was in complete control, knew what was due when and what I needed to do. This year, I have no idea. It’s a bizarre place to be in. I know I have Things due on Dates, but I couldn’t tell you which presentation is when.

It doesn’t really bode well, does it?

I have to apologise for my lack of blogging over the past couple of weeks. I’ve been up to my eyeballs with an assignment that I’ve been wanting to beat my own head in over. It’s getting there slowly and hopefully I’ll be able to update properly once it’s done

On the positive side: only five weeks (apparently) until the end of term.

All quiet…? Hardly!

It’s been quiet here (as in, on this site) for a while. Purely because it’s been anything BUT quiet here in my Real Life.

University has been insanely busy.I have a LOT of work to get done, and seemingly no time in which to do it. The principles of occupational balance, as applied to my life, have gone right out of the window. Why then, I hear you ask, are you spending time here writing this when you could be doing some of this work?

Ah, I say, because I need some time to reflect and regroup, and work out what is happening this year. I need some time out. I need to think, but not think too hard. I need time to step back and appraise things.

We are almost half way through the first term of the second  year. We’ve been back a mere five weeks – it feels (to me at least) as if we were never away. It’s been a roller coaster of lead lectures, group work, case studies, models of practice, approaches… and not much time to breathe

However, now I sit here in this newly acquired morning free of a lecture, and as I try not to berate myself for not using it to read SOMETHING, write SOMETHING, do SOMETHING, I can see how much I’m changing. It’s a slow process, very gradual, a drip,drip, drip slowly sinking in, but I’m starting to think about things in a different way. I’m starting to think about occupations, about what is involved in doing them. In essence, I think I may actually be learning stuff.

It’s frightening in some ways, but so exciting in others. I wish I could adequately express what an amazing profession this is, how valuable occupational therapy can be, how it’s not  what anyone thinks it is really.
I just want to say though, that it’s AWESOME.

A break from the norm…

If there is such a thing as a “norm” for this particular blog.
Today was a beautiful day here and, after a particularly shocking week of things going wrong one after another after another, I decided to go for a walk.

I felt a bit guilty for this, and took some journal articles to read- the rationale being that I hadn’t really done enough work this week, so I didn’t really “deserve” to take time out etc etc- I also took my camera with me.

After wandering around for a bit, taking a few photos, I decided to sit under a tree and read one of my articles. It took me almost 45 minutes to read because I kept stopping to marvel at what was around me. In fact, it was the only article I managed to read and I took next to no notes on it.

Yet I managed to learn something that I feel is quite valuable.

I learned the value of looking upwards. In sitting under that tree, and my subsequent further wandering around the trees I realised that there was so much more to look at if I just looked towards the sky a little. I also realised that I spend so much of my life looking at the floor or, on a really good day, looking at what’s right in front of me, and not really seeing.  There were so many beautiful things that I’d missed simply by not looking.

It sounds like such a cliche, but this one thing, this one afternoon, has made such a difference to me and my week. Then I realised (again) – that’s what we’re all about. The little things, the things that are seemingly so inconsequential, can have a massive impact.
Once again, OT has reminded me how awesome it is.

Year 2!

Well, I’ve been sick for a couple of weeks and so I’ve only just managed to get on and update. Plus, I haven’t really had a lot to update with.

However, I’ve now started my second year, and it’s back to books again already despite only having had one day in uni so far!

Monday was module introductions, the usual stuff. Quite interesting but also exhausting. I think we all felt as though we’d been hit by many, many buses by the time we left. I came home and re-wrote my notes but then felt the need to take the rest of the evening off. Yesterday I had a day off (random, I know) yet had quite a few errands to run, and today has been the same. Tomorrow we are off to Bath for our interprofessional level 2 conference, and the same on Friday. Then I can say I’ve survived the first week of year 2!

On Monday I found myself reflecting (again) on my practice placement and how much of an impact it had upon me. I’m now starting to be able to make sense of some of the paperwork and things we were using in our first year – the AOTA Practice Framework, for one- and it’s good. Thinking of things in the sense of how we used them on placement was particularly valuable. “Occupational History”, for one, makes more sense now I’ve had a placement because I can start to separate the things that I NEED to know from the stuff that’s less relevant. Amazing.

I’ve spent this afternoon trying to get my head around what’s needed for this term. I had a meeting with one of the study skills advisers this morning which helped with that as well. I have a feeling that this year is going to be very hectic, and while it worries me I’m also looking forward to really getting down to the “nitty gritty”.

I’ve rambled a lot here today. I’m a little tired (despite it only being 6pm) and that would explain that. I just wanted to document how excited I am to be back at university again- it reminds me of the importance of what we DO!

So, you want to be an occupational therapist..?

I decided that today would be a good day to think over my first year and see if I could shed some light on what to expect for those of you out there (who may eventually discover this ramble) who are considering occupational therapy as a career. This may be a little UK-centric, as that’s where I am, but it may be helpful.

1. Be prepared for lots of blank looks when telling people what you want to do, or what course you’re on.

I’ve had friends ask me what it is, I had a long conversation with a lady at the gym last week on the subject, and a nice chat with my new hairdresser a few weeks ago. No one will know what it is, and by the end of year one, you probably won’t be able to explain it any more succinctly than you can at the beginning of year one. If anything, it’ll be even more foggy and more difficult to explain… I found that placement has helped me explain it from one perspective (e.g. in my case, that of working on a stroke unit), but makes it more fuzzy from other angles.

2. You will be spending a lot of time reading about things that are a little vague

The benefit of sharing accommodation and a campus with various other health professions is that you can see quite clearly the somewhat less “medical model” approach of occupational therapy vs that of say, physiotherapy or nursing. Whereas my physiotherapist housemate spent the vast majority of her first year studying anatomy, physiology and various treatments, as occupational therapy students we DID spend quite a lot of time on anatomy, physiology and psychology, yet we also had practical sessions on group working, group dynamics, activity analysis, reading up on occupational deprivation, occupational balance, filling in occupational snapshots, ergonomics, CMOP, MOHO, Kawa etc… things that are unique to occupational therapy.

It’s for that reason, however, that said physiotherapist refers to occupational therapists as “hippies”.

I quite like that

3.The NHS Bursaries department can be both your best friend and your worst enemy. At times, it’s both.

The bursary thing is complicated. I’ve learnt to negotiate it reasonably well and it involves a lot of staying on top of exactly what you’re entitled to and when it’s due. Particularly when you start needing to claim placement expenses back. I am annoyingly organised (to the despair of others on my course, but it comes in useful for them at times) so I know exactly what I’m owed and when I’m owed it. It’s a skill you’ll need. Photocopy everything – in fact, do this with every finance related form you fill in. It saves time when you’re reapplying in years 2 and 3.

Also, if you think you’re entitled to something, apply for it. That applies to state benefits, disabled students allowances, access to learning funds. Even if you DON’T think you’re entitled, apply. You can have some very nice surprises that way..

4. Use the other students on your course- You’re really going to need each other

There are times when the course becomes all-consuming, and you think there’s no way you can get through another term, let alone another year or two. Talk to the others on your course- you’ll probably find they’ll be feeling exactly the same way. There are times, however, you might not feel able to,which leads me to…

4 a. Don’t be afraid to ask for help

Whether it’s academic help e.g. getting in touch with your tutor to discuss an assignment or general academic progress, or help with personal stuff, don’t be afraid to ask for help. It doesn’t make you weak, it doesn’t make you a failure and it won’t mean you won’t be a good occupational therapist. If anything, knowing when you’ve reached your limits and taking steps to address any difficulties is a sign of strength.

I think I’ll be writing some more on this later. I think there’s more to say but I need to have dinner now…

Summer break… and academic worries

I’m on summer holidays at the moment and trying to relish every moment. It’s difficult though, not having much to do.
For various reasons, which I don’t really want to go into, I can’t get a job. So I have next to NOTHING to keep me busy – can we say occupationally imbalanced?- and it’s driving me to distraction.

I’m trying to be good. Get some reading done, get prepared for next year. Do the stuff we’ve been assigned over the summer holiday. All those sorts of things. I want to be a Good Student in my second year since my first year was a bit of a disaster towards the end- from my perspective anyway.

The problem being that I put a LOT of pressure on myself, and I tend to be incredibly hard on myself. An assignment of 70+ is “alright” and anything below that is essentially a disaster. I keep getting below that, ergo, I see my academic career as a bit of a disaster. While people continually tell me it’s not about the grade of my degree, it’s about how I practice as an occupational therapist, I do wonder if my lack of academic amazingness reflects upon how I will be as a qualified O.T. (i.e, as I see it right now, based on my academic work: completely useless).

The worry I have is that in trying to be absolutely amazing, I’m missing out on the chance to actually be GOOD at this. It’s a conundrum that is really bothering me. I want to be a good O.T- that’s why I’m at uni, that’s why I chose this career. I’m not an 18 year old straight out of A’levels who did “ip, dip” with the UCAS guide or anything. I KNOW this is what I’m meant to be doing.
I’m just not sure how to convince myself that I can do it.

It has to be said that moving house sucks and has been the main reason for my absence of late. I finished my placement and have moved out of university accommodation and into a student house. I’ve finally managed to get some internet access and so have only just managed to get around to coming back here.

I shall update properly soon. It’s been a while and I have a lot of thoughts ..

Public service announcement:

Occupational therapy is amazing.

I’ve had the most fantastic day ever on my placement, doing seemingly simple things and getting the most amazing responses. I never expected to be so thrilled about some of the things I am being thrilled by- but THIS is so the right place for me to be.

… normal service now resumes