At the age of 33, I decided that I needed a career that would save me carrying heavy boxes of cer... Reflections of an English | Sex Press
Logo

User login

Browse archives

« January 2009  
Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa
        1 2 3
4 5 6 7 8 9 10
11 12 13 14 15 16 17
18 19 20 21 22 23 24
25 26 27 28 29 30 31

Who's online

There are currently 0 users and 16 guests online.

Syndicate

XML feed
Home

At the age of 33, I decided that I needed a career that would save me carrying heavy boxes of cer... Reflections of an English

Submitted by admin on Fri, 2007-04-13 11:00.

At the age of 33, I decided that I needed a career that would save me carrying heavy boxes of ceramic floor tiles into architects and specifiers for approval. I am easily bored and like a challenge. Within my network was a friend who knew of someone who had started OT training. After talking to her and visiting several OT departments in many of our local hospitals, I came to the realization that I would never be bored by OT, after all, if I could justify that what I was interested in was therapeutic, I could use it in my work. That was a major AH HA moment for me.

Taking a year off to study for new qualifications to get into York, I spent hours working with clients in Cheshire Homes, Day Centers and other rehabilitation environments. To pay my mortgage, I qualified as a Youth Worker and worked in a local youth club two nights a week. Isn't it odd that despite returning to school as a mature student, the fear and trepidation of the teacher's marks do not diminish? I was one of the many mature students who traveled daily from other Yorkshire towns. Guimette (Gui, of French descent) and I drove in from Huddersfield leaving on the 37 miles journey at 7am to arrive at 8.15am having bypassed Leeds city centre and driven through miles of countryside to arrive at our destination.

We had excellent staff at our University, including Linda, a transplant from the good old USA. Our individual goals were to survive the course, the clinicals, the exams and the traveling. I am happy to tell you that we are all here to tell the tale.

One very sad clinical for me was my first one at the end of year 1. I was in an ESMI unit in Shipley. It was a day centre for Elderly Severely Mentally Ill. Working with a 90 year old convinced that her mother was waiting at home, the 55 pre senile dementia lady who was unable to sit on the spare chair but positioned herself on the lap of the person next to the chair, and the elderly gentlemen convinced he was going mad as he didn't know where he was from one moment to the next, all conspired to send me to my lonely room in tears each night. It was a poignant experience to be a first year student and not have the knowledge to know how best to deal with these suffering humans. Another moment that stood out for me was on the day of my graduation, it struck me that I had not only learned why others did the things they did, but why I did things too.

Choosing a career path was difficult, the choices were endless, phys dis, psych, mental handicap, child development, community, forensic, some OT's even worked in industrial settings looking at health and wellness, planning retirement classes. I remember a friend of mine was lucky enough to get a job with Boots the Chemist as a disablement specialist, helping design tools for the handicapped. Not only that, but she also got discounts on all their products – a gift in itself.

In the UK, unlike here in the USA, the average OT is in her job for approximately two years before leaving to have children. Many OT's later take refresher courses and return to the profession. As with many students, you get your final accolade and move on to your first job, knowing it all…..NOT! The first year for many of us was hair raising to say the least, luckily, if you choose to go into Physical Disabilities ( phys dis ) you have an abundance of hospitals offering a two year rotation. The advantages of this, of course, are that you do four six month periods in different areas and if you hate one, you never need to do it again. During clinical practice, the fact that I hated dressing practice with a passion, and that phys dis OT's wore a uniform, which flattered no one, were good reasons to go into Psychiatry ( psych). Psych OT's got away with smart casual . I did spend a day in a forensic unit but decided that that was too scary for me, I didn't want to work with children and I had really enjoyed my psych placements so that is the direction I chose.

My first post was in an acute day centre at Dewsbury Hospital, West Yorks, a wonderful area to live. It was a new location for the hospital and I worked with 3 OT's, 2 Nurses, 2 OT techs and a doctor. We had a wide range of clients and as someone who was so much older than the other new graduates, my previous life experiences led me to work with the transsexuals, obsessive compulsives, and sex offender clients sent to us via the court system. It was interesting, I was never bored and I learned a lot! One of my other roles was on the Crisis Intervention Team, partnering with a Social Worker to facilitate family communication after trauma.

Our promotion system is also different to here in the USA where there appears to be many staff therapists and few rehabilitation managers. Everyone starts as a Basic Grade OT and usually within two years you seek promotion to become a Senior 11 OT. As a Senior 2, you are still a clinician. you can become a Clinical Supervisor and have students on placement – a big responsibility, but a great learning experience. On moving to Senior 1 level, your responsibilities change and you become more Management oriented. After Senior 1 comes Head 4, 3, 2 and finally Head OT. Being paid on the Whitley Scale at that time, you knew what your new salary would be as you moved up the ladder. The ultimate was to become District OT which was totally management oriented.

When I qualified in 1989, it was said that for the National Health Service to survive, they would have to employ all school leavers up to the year 2000. I'm sure they tried, but the UK is still short of trained therapists and all jobs are not advertised, so you do have lots of choice. I hate to tell you this, but in 1989 when I qualified, holiday benefits were only six weeks. The good news of course were those extra 10 Bank Holidays – Easter Friday and Monday, May Day, Whitsun and the rest. Our workweek was 35 hours which of course included no weekends. What is a girl to do; it's tough when you have spare time in your life to do all that your heart desires.

So let's talk about socialized medicine, many people talk about it with disdain, but as a recipient for many years, I would like to share some information about it. In the UK, if you work, you pay a National Insurance contribution (a percentage of your wages) – we have national insurance numbers, the equivalent of your social security numbers. It is not expensive and entitles you to sick pay, unemployment pay, maternity and other benefits. Your doctor's visit is free and last time I was home, it cost five pounds per item of medication ($7.50). Many services such as Family Planning and Women's Health are also free, If you need a specialist, you don't have to pay extra, but the wait for an appointment could be a while, so many people now purchase private insurance from BUPA or PPP so that they can choose when to go into hospital, perhaps picking a less busy time to be away from work. Having said that, when my aunt was recently diagnosed with bone cancer, she was admitted to Christie's hospital for treatment within two days. This is how it seems to work; the most needy get seen first, if you want to jump the queue, you buy private insurance. Seems like a win win situation, doesn't it?

Yorkshire is a great place to work and we were blessed with having major teaching hospitals close by in Leeds and Bradford, and other major hospitals within a 30 mile radius.

One of the biggest differences that I can remember was the note writing issues. With socialized medicine in the UK, you get care when you need it whether you have insurance or not. As I worked in psych, and my first job was in a day centre where I worked one on one with all kinds of diagnoses, I kept notes of the content of the session. When we did group sessions, notes were minimal, stating who was in attendance, unless something major or unusual happened, at which point you would document and bring it to the attention of the Psychiatrist on his weekly meetings. I remember one heart warming meeting, I had been working with an elderly lady, M.T. who was clinically depressed. One day, unusually, she had laughed at something I said to her – a sure sign of getting better. I told the psychiatrist who mentioned it to her at the meeting. Her reply, was that I was enough to make anyone laugh. Some events in life are truly priceless.

Just as I was leaving the UK in 1994, a new system was put into action. Each designated area had their own health care trust. What that meant, was that if you needed a hip replacement and there was a waiting list at your local hospital, you could go to any other hospital that would take you, and your hospital would pay your chosen hospital. OT Treatment in England was always on an as needed basis. For example, a hip patient would be educated re hip precautions, shown how to use adaptive equipment, and have durable medical equipment ordered for them if it was needed. If the person lived alone, they would be kept a little longer or followed up with a community OT. In psychiatric hospital settings, most patients were seen in groups, but if appropriate were seen individually. Once the patient was referred to a therapist, they were seen until the therapist felt they had re achieved their best level of function; they were then seen by the doctor to be discharged.

After my first year as a Basic Grade, I was ready to move to a Senior 2 position and saw an advertisement for an OT on the Isle of Guernsey in the Channel Islands. Moving there in January 1990, a whole new world of OT opportunity opened up for me, but that's another story.

Karen has been in the USA since 1994 and her company combines the best of both worlds by helping us recognize how we can stay safe and prevent injury both at home and in the workplace. She finds that good body mechanics and the use of ETPS for pain management helps many people reach retirement in a fit and functional condition. Karen became a Licensed Therapist 20 years ago, and has experience in Orthopedics, Brain Injury, Mental Illness,Spinal cord Injury, Ergonomics and Neuromuscular diseases. Using education and preventative techniques, she has trained and advised numerous companies and individuals on the use of good musculoskeletal postures to reduce wear and tear on our bodies, minimize pain, reduce health costs and increase energy.

Since being in the USA, Karen has worked in various aspects of manufacturing, healthcare and railroad industries. She is licensed with the Florida Department of Health, and certified with the City of Jacksonville as a Health Testing Consultant.

This is cache, read story here