Personal Background in Occupational Therapy - Paper Example

Occupational Therapy is one of the most impressive careers and needless to say, it is holistic. It helps individuals across the lifespan by harnessing the things they need or want to do on their daily activities. Many people attest that their occupation helps them recover from depression and other illnesses. According to Christiansen (2014), Occupational Therapy help individuals of all ages live life happily by helping them adopt healthy lifestyles and prevent or better live with disabilities, injuries, and illnesses. Having grown up and schooled interacting with people, I have always liked to be around people and wanted a career where I would be able to help different people. Occupational Therapy activities and job description include helping children with disabilities to raise their self-esteem and encouraging them to take part in schools activities as well as social institutions (Schell, Gillen, Scaffa, & Cohn, 2013). Occupational Therapy is my most preferred course since I have a high educational, professional and personal background that gives me leverage.

Educational Background

Obtaining a bachelors qualification in Occupational Therapy is not something easy. This is because the nature of the work needs high performance and an in-depth understanding of every individuals situation (Schell, Gillen, Scaffa, & Cohn, 2013). I have always been passionate about working with the less privileged as well as helping people enjoy their jobs so that they can become productive in the long run. In high school, I was the chairperson of a student club that helped needy students meet their physical needs. Since lack of physical needs could make individuals lose their self-esteem, the club had a program to mentor the less privileged and help them achieve self-love. Educational qualifications required one to enroll for a bachelors degree in Occupational Therapy are stringent. I had good grades in my degree program, and ultimately I got an average B+ (77%) in my senior level course and completed nine senior level courses in my undergraduate degree. I have met all the requirements of the field because I have surpassed the competitive GPA for the program. It would be important to note that the areas I majored in are psychology, anthropology, and sociology.

Professional Background

I have a background information in psychology. Since the discipline forms the foundation of occupation therapy, I will be able to know how people feel and in turn, help them overcome the challenges making them less productive. Since junior high school, I have had a passion for anthropology. I read magazines and books that describe in depth cultures of different people around the world. The society that people live in affects their performance since their beliefs and norms change the way they live and work (Christiansen, 2014). I got impressive grades in sociology, and for this reason, I understand the social problems that make people unproductive in their work. As of the time of application, I had been working for more than one year, interacting with individuals with disabilities and others that need help to improve their work productivity. I worked at King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Kent, from November 2015 to July 2017. The Director of Therapies organized every service offered in the hospital. The department of Occupational Therapy has a well-organized appraisal that ensures that the staff therein have equal chances to develop their knowledge and skills in the professional therapy.

References

Christiansen, C. H. (2014). Occupational therapy: Performance, participation, and well-being. C. M. Baum, & J. Bass-Haugen (Eds.). Slack Incorporated.

Schell, B. A., Gillen, G., Scaffa, M., & Cohn, E. S. (2013). Willard and Spackman's occupational therapy. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.