Occupational Therapy

[Twink]

I'm looking at a complete career change as my 'before kids' one will never work with a family. I did one of those abilities/interests questionaires which threw up OT as a possibilty.

I like what I've read so far but would appreciate an insiders view/advice on what my next step should be.

Anyone out there ?

Twink, no experience but I found some sites for you. There's the NHS site here, or the College of OTs , or this site looks quite old but there are some interesting comments about various OT courses etc. (might be out of date though) There's also a short Guardian guide to changing careers and becoming an OT, if you cut and paste this: society.guardian.co.uk/NHSstaff/story/0,7991,857223,00.html
Hope there's something useful in that lot somewhere or that someone else who knows what they're talking about sees your post.

Cheers WWW !

Twink - was it an online questionnaire you completed? Always fancying a career change but never know what I want to do.

Yes, it was LearnDirect . It came up with stacks of stuff but after filtering out the dross I did come up with 2 viable alternatives. I'm finding it all a bit scary after 10 years in industry followed by 4 at home. I really don't want to start something & find it wasn't for me after all, but I've got more of my working life ahead of me than has already passed so I want something that I'm happy doing & fits in with the rest of my life, which my old job DEFINITELY doesn't.

Twink - my mum's an OT and she loves it. She works in a special school for children with severe mental and physical disabilities.
From the discussions we've had, she finds it really rewarding. She's now got her own Snoozelen multi-sensory room which is rather fab and the kids love it. She works four days a week and gets the school holidays, which we always appreciated when we were growing up. She's always resisted working directly within a hospital set up, I think because she has more freedom in a school. She currently has a mature student on placement with her who is so diligent it's driving her loopy. Keeps her on her toes!

Thanks Bobsmum. Would you mind asking your mum what she would recommend a potential trainee should do ?

I know I need to get some experience before I think of applying for a course and I was thinking of trying to get that through our local volunteer bureau. I've also read that I need to be able to show 'evidence of recent study at A level standard or above' and as my degree was a VERY long time ago, I've been looking at the possibility if doing an OU course or A level Biology.

Sorry to go on, I wish there were careers services for adults !

bobsmum- where is she???? she's not south-west is she? Sorry been searching for an OT.

I spent the latter part of last week in a sensory room- I loved it! Been going through the snoezlen catalogue- saying "I want that, I want that!". We might turn the corner of the basement into a sensory room for ds1- he loved the sensory room last week. I suspect ds2 would like it as well.

twink if you want advice on doing A level Biology - I used to teach quite a few people who had done arts degrees and were then going into physio, or medicine or something of that sort and needed science a levels. I may be able to recommend some places. Get as much work experience as possible though- that is really really important.

Thanks Jimjams. I did physics & chemistry O levels but not biology, is it possible to go to A level without the GCSE first ? I did double maths & physics A levels and have an engineering degree (told you it was a total change !)

Twink - I'll phone my mum tonight and let you know. She works in Glasgow.
She qualified years ago (she's early 50s now), but I don't think she has much of a scientific background (will find out tonight!) . One year of her course was doing anatomy with 1st year medical students (she's got horrific stories about hiding cadavers' arms up sleeves - I don't think you could get away with thhat now!)
I do know she has O Level Art and did a year a secretarial college, both of which went down well at OT college. If you're arty crafty or can bluff it - that's a big bonus! My mum did basket weaving and macrame till it was coming out of her ears, but that was working in a geriatric ward.
Now she works with kids it's paint, glitter, themed collages and getting them to play Westlife CDs by bashing a BigMac switch - hours of fun!
Just remembered, loads of my friends at school needed A Level Biology for entry into medicine and they were able to do a crash course in a year.
Will keep you posted Twink.

Yes twink- you're fine to do A level Biology with those qualifications. If you can afford it you are better off going to a tutorial college full time rather than your local 6th form for evening classes or whatever. You will get a lot more support at a tutorial college and they will help a great deal with applications and interview practice etc. I did teach someone once who was going into osteopathy after a drumming course! He did the Bioogy A level in an intensive 2 term course (January to june) and came out with a C (pretty good going). Most of my mature students did it over a year though and that seemed to work well - although if you were doing it in evening classes maybe even taking 2 years. There is a lot of material to get through.

Where are you - I may be able to recommend good tutorial colleges near you. They are pricey- but they do offer bursaries so may be worth enquiring anyway.

Thanks again, I really appreciate your input(s?)I'm in the depths of rural Berkshire so commuting (eek !) distance from Reading, Bristol, Southampton, Portsmouth, Oxford and I suppose London too, although I'd prefer to avoid it if possible.

Just spoke to my dear mum. You can do OT postgrad in 2 years if you have a degree, otherwise 3/4 depending where you study. She recommends getting a bit of work experience - maybe as a volunteer somewhere - like a hospital/special school/care home etc. The clincher at interviews is usually the personal statement bitty at the end. Its a very competitive discipline - many people per place - and because it is so people based, I think personality is emphasised a great deal.
She also recommends using phrases like "enabling" and 'including" at interview - they're very into buzzwords! Most other info should be on the OT website, but she's more than willing to send me stuff which I could forward on to you if you like.

That would be great, I've trawled the site but not all of it is open to the public. I'll ask Tech to forward you my details.

Twink - thanks for the link. Good luck with you plans.

There are loads of tutorial colleges in London. if you're commuting into Paddington worth checking out MPW (Mander Portman Woodward), DLD (Davies Lang and Dick) and Abbey College London. Abbey and MPW are kind of specialists at getting people into medical type professions.

There is also an MPW in Bristol which is good.

Good Luck.

Another way to get names of tutorial colleges is to contact CIFE- they should have a website. If you can afford it/have the time a tutorial college is definitely the place to go for a crash course.