Occupational therapy - does it matter which uni?

[crazycrofter]

Dd is looking at doing occupational therapy. Obviously it’s a vocational course, so I’m assuming the usual provisos about going for the best/RG uni you can get into don’t apply?

She’s at a grammar school where there’s a lot of focus on RG etc and she’s likely to be predicted 2xAs and 1 A*. She’s a little swayed by the RG snobbery, but that would leave only Southampton and Liverpool as options (Cardiff is probably out due to funding issues). She would really like to look at Plymouth and Oxford Brookes too. Should she just forget the academic league tables as they’re irrelevant?

Oh, I’ve just realised UEA has a medical school too!

crazy, is there particular type of OT she would like to pursue? My DNiece wants to work with children with developmental delays/disorders so picked unis where those placements were available. This is US though so it may be more general/ less specialised here. But I did have a wee squizz at the modules at a few of the unis and they do look quite different form each other at times.

I genuinely don't think an OT course would have sprung up at a uni where placement opportunities and access to clinicians was limited. Their locations are all near major teaching hospitals, I think?

Yes, that looks right. She’s interested in working in mental health.

I ruled out UEA as the placements can be quite a long way apart so they suggested you might move to kings lynn for the placement bits which I thought would be destabilising for me. Others might not mind. Mind you this was 15 years ago.

I'm an OT who has done a lot of recruitment in the past - I wouldn't care what uni they had been to. Diversity of placements is good but often the more specialist the placement the less hands on/autonomous the student can be. There's a lot to be said for a bog standard orthopaedics placement to get lots of experience and run a caseload as independently as possible. The best newly qualified OTs I've interviewed are the ones with experience outwith the uni training, eg they worked as a carer alongside their degree or bank at hospitals, volunteered or were older and had worked in something transferable before doing OT.

@crazycrofter

Yes, that looks right. She’s interested in working in mental health.

All unis should do a physical, mental health community and inpatient. Well before COVID put the whole system under huge pressure.

Lots of universities do 'role emerging' in a non traditional setting which I think can give a fantastic experience of service development and embed your OT science theory.

I do another allied health profession course and honestly, the quality of teaching and support we've had at a non-RG uni has been amazing. (I've heard some less than glowing reports how students at the more "prestigious" uni have been treated over the whole covid situation on the same course as us). There's such a buzz and enthusiasm among our staff and they're just amazing - but it's a very small cohort which makes it close-knit.

I'd focus more on the placement patch (biggest drawback with ours - it's bloody HUGE) and any real strengths within the department that feed into areas she's interested in.

Thank you both, that’s really helpful, it’s given me an idea of the right questions to ask.

I'm am OT, I went to Plymouth (although not recently!) It was a great city to go to uni in but the health campus was on the outskirts of the city away from most of the accommodation and the main library so it was a bit of hassle getting there for lectures especially if you had a big gap between sessions during a day.

We have students from Southampton on placement fairly often, it definitely seems to have a strong academic focus.

Thanks @BigRedBoat, I noticed the separate campus but it looks like they’re redeveloping a new building by the main campus for the health professions - it’s not clear when it will be ready so that’s something to find out.

When you say there’s an academic focus at Southampton, do you mean they’re actually not that well trained for the practicalities of the job?

No, I just meant they seem to do a lot of science and research and all the students I've had recently have been high achievers, aiming for a 1st. I don't think it's at the expense of 'real world' learning though.

As others have said it really doesn't matter where she trains.
I would say, however, that Southampton isn't a lovely city...

Brighton uni do a good course but it's not in Brighton- it's Eastbourne which has a very different feel.

She should definitely visit as many unis as she can to get a feel for the city and campus.

My relative specialised as a mental health OT when working in Sheffield. After the 2 year course before degrees started. Maybe look at Sheffield Hallam? I would think cities have placements that are easier to reach. They might also allow students to be part of the general student body instead of being separate. Whatever a student studies, I think a sense if belonging is important. I can see there are differences in courses and maybe a higher tariff ensures more academic dc and courses but what does she want?

Derby, Coventry and Oxford Brookes and Cardiff are really good.

Both Oxford and Coventry have a wide range of great placements. Coventry will place in Birmingham hospitals so wide range of placement options.

Are OT degrees accredited by any bodies?

According to the CUG the best graduate prospects are in the following order:
Oxford Brookes
Derby
Southampton
Northampton
UEA
Liverpool
Cardiff

Are OT degrees accredited by any bodies?

The Royal College of Occupational Therapy (accredited courses pp.9-10).

www.rcot.co.uk/file/2073/download?token=EdvPe2v8

... Therapists, even...

This does confirm the madness in grade expectations. When we were at uni, it was harder to get into physio than medicine, and pharmacy student mates had higher A level grades than most of the medics ...

should add that the 3As pharmacy students shared lectures with the med students (lower grade average) who jeered at them for being air heads

I struggled with my OT course as it had very little anatomy and practical sessions. It was very much turn up and teach yourself (pbl) before presenting to the group. I kept thinking it might get more scientific and it never did. I basically had to learn on the job..

There has been a shift away from the traditional practical to the occupational science approach which many people complained about. We did a survey and 96 percent of newly qualified OTs felt unprepared for the job. Some that had begun the course as OT assistants found they had not learned anymore yet were now expected to be specialists.

About 75 percent of the degree was psychology based. I was very skeptical of the role emerging placements and virtual ones seem even worse.. patients want us to know practical skills and condition management, range of movement etc.

I have heard good things about Liverpool being very anatomy based. The first year of being newly qualified was basically catching up with what we didn't learn eg basics such as walking sticks, gait and equip. It made for a very stressful transition.

That doesn’t sound good. Where did you train?

She seems to be warming to the idea of Liverpool as one of her friends is considering it for a different subject! But If her ultimate aim is to work in mental health, perhaps she won’t need the anatomy ?

Coventry looks good but too close to home (Birmingham). She definitely wants a change of environment.

Mental health people can have all sorts of mobility issues! Of course she needs anatomy.

Also, who on earth would want to be an h undergrad in Northampton?! Do look at the university experience and not just course listings. That list is very different from the complete university guide rankings where RG and her original choices are highly ranked. I would add in Oxford as it’s just a great place to be for 3 years! As would Sheffield. No one will think an Ot was not good enough from RG or a former poly.

Like a great deal of training, the OT training seems to have become less practical and more academic. The old 2 year course was definitely more practical but the degrees are different because they need to fill an extra year.

Northampton has never been on the list, for that reason really. Oxford/Plymouth/Norwich/Bournemouth look like good cities for students. I thought of Sheffield, but she only needs five so we’ll see how she likes the three above plus Liverpool and Southampton.

Except I can’t count as that’s 5! But Bournemouth and Southampton have open days on consecutive days so we might as well look at both.