OT Joke

Five healthcare students sat in a room: a medic, a pharmacologist, a nurse, a PT and an OT…

It sounds like the beginning to a joke, but alas it’s not (skip to the end of the article if you want a joke!). It was, in fact, the situation I found myself in last week. And was this meeting of prospective healthcare professionals from an array of disciplines a spontaneous get together? Of course not – we’re all far too busy for meetings not scheduled into our curriculum! During our mini-summit, we all lamented at the fact that while we worked towards a common goal – best possible patient care – rarely, if ever, did our academic worlds coincide.

If truth be known, part of the reason I was in the room was the lure of $100 for taking part in this interdisciplinary problem-based learning research project and the promise of a free pizza meal. Along with this considerable draw, I was also intrigued by the prospect of getting a snapshot of what working with future colleagues would look and feel like. And my conclusion is: the future is bright.

Our task was to discuss a case study of a patient who had a diagnosis of lower back pain and post-partum depression. We received some initial information and then more details were revealed by the facilitator as we asked pertinent questions. It was a bit like a more sophisticated version of ‘Twenty Questions’. My trepidation in being unable to convey the OT perspective slowly subsided as a few key concepts jumped out at me as we were introduced to the case. The main concept that struck me was ‘role’ – this lady was a wife, a mother, an employee (and the list goes on). I begun to get excited when I realized that ‘role’ was a very ‘OTish’ concept and just by mentioning this word, I felt that my place at the table was justified.

Discussions hadn’t progressed very far when the pharmacology student turned to me and boldly declared, “I have to admit, I don’t really know what an OT does”. Suddenly I felt the pressure of four sets of eyes looking in my direction all expecting an eloquent and succinct explanation of the occupational therapy profession. And I’m sorry to admit that I didn’t do a great job of providing them with the answer they were looking for. I began to explain it by comparing OT to PT – an attempt to provide a meaningful context - but I soon tailed off with that approach when I realized that I didn’t truly know what PT’s do and there was one sitting right in front of me (awkward!). Then I changed my tact to utterings of “support people to resume or reintegrate into meaningful activities after the onset of illness or injuries”. Although it made sense in my mind, I could tell I wasn’t doing a lot to help them visualize what OT’s actually do.

Returning the following week after doing some research into potential OT interventions for this case, I think I managed to enlighten my team a little more. There were a few surprised mutterings and impressed looks as I reeled off a number of potential OT interventions. The medical student said he would often refer patients to OT’s in his action plans (or whatever the medics call them) but like a road you feel may suddenly terminate over the crest of a hill, he had no idea what actually happened when they arrived in the OT department – he just assumed they rehabilitated…somehow. My hypothetical action plan seemed to cover most bases: it involved biomechanical, rehabilitation and psychosocial approaches. The others were surprised that OT’s could delve into mental health issues. I felt satisfied, maybe a little smug if truth be known, that I represented such a diverse and holistic-thinking profession.

The whole experience of working as part of an interdisciplinary team was invigorating and exciting. I would go as far as saying that I can’t wait to work in an environment where there is constant exchange between different disciplines. Maybe it won’t be as relaxed and responsibility-free as this little taster experience, but it will certainly be dynamic and interesting.

This experience coincided with ponderings over my progress through the Masters program so far. For better or worse, I feel like I am steadily acquiring the lingo of OT’s and healthcare. I also feel like I can view situations through an ‘OT lens’ (I love this expression – it’s like a special prescription for glasses; I might try asking for it when I visit the optometrist next time). I am getting the “What” of OT – I just don’t quite get the “How”. When it comes to thinking of realistic plans and actually implementing them in real life situations, my mind goes a bit blank, the furrows on my brow deepen and my cognitive cogs start to churn. Oh well, I’m only a quarter of the way through the program and only have one fieldwork placement under my belt out of six and the placements are where the real and lasting learning happens.

And now for an actual OT joke (I totally plagiarized this from another OT blog so I take no credit or responsibility for its funniness/lack of humour, delete as appropriate):

Q: How many Occupational Therapists does it take to change a lightbulb?
A: None. We’d teach the lightbulb to change itself.

Hmmm…maybe we shouldn’t give up our day jobs quite yet.