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A day in the life of an occupational therapist

What was it that inspired you to follow this career path?

I always wanted to help people.  Being able to help them move better so that they can live their life is very satisfying.

What motivates you to get up in the morning?

I really enjoy the technical aspects of specifying a wheelchair to meet a service user’s need and to fit their posture and physical ability, which can be very challenging sometimes.

Seeing all my colleagues at work and the banter that we have in the office really makes my day enjoyable.

What does a typical work day look like for you?

First, I look at what I’ve been assigned that day; whether it’s a clinic or visits or triaging referrals.  Mostly, I will already know roughly what I’m doing.  I’ll then prepare for the day by reading service users’ notes and making sure I’m aware of their current situation.  Once I’ve seen the service users, I write the notes up and upload them to the IT system.  I’ll usually have work orders and prescriptions to pass through to the  workshop technicians for them to source and prepare the equipment I’ve prescribed.  Quite often, this also involves liaising with technicians and admin staff about the wheelchairs.

At the end of the day, I’ll check to see what I’m doing the next day and get prepared.