Occupational therapy
By Zoe Flood
Published: 15 August 2004
What do you come out with? A BSc, and eligibility for membership of the British Association of Occupational Therapists (BAOT) and for state registration with the Health Professions Council (HPC).
Why do it? Because you are a patient and caring person and are looking for a people centred, well-paid, rewarding career. Occupational therapists help individuals with mentally, physically, developmentally, or emotionally disabling conditions to develop, recover, or maintain daily living and work skills.
What's it about? The day-to-day reality of the work is giving assistance to those people who, for one reason or another, are less able to function efficiently. This will become evident to students thanks to the strong emphasis on clinical fieldwork. The job can be tiring because you'll be on your feet for a good part of the day and you may also have to move patients single-handedly. The compensation is the satisfaction of watching those in your care growing in independence. It is predicted that this profession will become more in demand as the aging population grows. Students will first have to learn about the human body and mind and about how dysfunction can occur. The theory and the practical skills learnt through demonstration and discussion will then be applied in practice on clinical placements in both hospitals and the community. At Southampton, students participate in "Common Learning" alongside others studying medicine or health care, meaning that they get a better understanding of the overlap between their courses.
What are the students like? They might as well be the salt of the earth, happy to painstakingly help those in need. There tends to be a mixed cohort of predominantly female school leavers and mature students.
How is it packaged? At Southampton, there is a modular programme of both academic study and clinical placements throughout the three-year course. As in East Anglia, course units are graded by continuously assessed coursework, projects, clinical practice and a dissertation, without a final exam. Cardiff opts for a student centred and problem based approach to learning, in which the various academic disciplines are brought together in a series of real professional issues.
How long is the degree? Three years.
How cool is it? Well, your auntie (and even your uncle) might love to do the course, so it depends how you feel about studying with them. But you do get to study in cool environments and you will be encouraged to chat with those you treat.
What A-levels do you need? No specific ones.
What grades? Southampton asks for BCC, East Anglia for CCC and Cardiff for CC-cccc.
Will you be interviewed? Not at Southampton, but if you are short-listed by East Anglia you will be asked for an interview. In Cardiff only some are interviewed.
Will it keep you off the dole? Almost all graduates will be employed soon after graduating in a variety of areas including both the private and public sector, working either in hospitals, schools or general practice.
Where can you do it? Bournemouth, Bradford UWE Bristol, Brunel, Canterbury Christ Church University College, Cardiff, Coventry, East Anglia, Glasgow Caledonian, Huddersfield, Liverpool, University College Northampton, Northumbria, Oxford Brookes, Queen Margaret University College in Edinburgh, Robert Gordon University, Salford, Sheffield Hallam, St Martin's College - Lancaster, Southampton, Teesside, Ulster and York St John College.
Where's the cutting edge? In Southampton, it's life science technology and innovation, living with disabilities and movement disorders. East Anglia focuses on assessment and on rehabilitation in the community, in emergency care, in mental health, in learning disabilities and in communication. Cardiff recently worked on "Enabling Independence".
Where are the stars? At Southampton, Dr Kath McPherson heads the ?Living with disability' programme and works on individual experiences of disability and rehabilition. Dr Fiona Poland at East Anglia is an expert on the development of community-responsive health and social provision. At Cardiff, Martin Booy and Gail Boniface have worked extensively on the methods of enabling independence, particularly amongst the elderly and people with disabilities.
Related courses: Community health, health studies, health promotion, social work.
