Why occupational therapy?
I chose occupational therapy because of my love for geriatrics. I knew from a young age, around 8th grade, that I wanted to be an occupational therapist. I knew I wanted to choose a career that was related to health care but I had no idea what I wanted to do or what I would even be good at. I remember researching occupational therapy after watching extreme makeover home edition and seeing a child with developmental disabilities. This child was provided a "therapy room" where his home health occupational therapist could come in and provide him with services. This included a swimming pool inside their house! how cool! from that point on OT became prevalent in my life. It would pop up everywhere. On TV, in a book, hearing it in conversation and even just simply being asked what I wanted to be when I grew up. My interest never faded from OT and actually it would continue to grow stronger.
My grandmother used to go to physical therapy for her lower back pain and I would tag along. The physical therapy or therapist never sparked an interest with me, but what did was the OT I saw in the corner practicing. There were so many little things I noticed being done differently on the OT side than the PT side. And once again, it reminded me why I had such a liking for it and why I wanted to stick with that as a career path. My grandfather eventually and unfortunately had to have an experience with rehabilitation as well. He suffered from a stroke that would claim the left side of his body to the point of him being limp on that side. My grandpa had an experience with an occupational therapist through home health as well. After learning about his experiences and what OT could provide for him, I knew once again that I would be an occupational therapist one day. With most of my experience through OT being in the field of geriatrics, I quickly fell in love with that part of the field.
As time went on I would eventually end up meeting OT's, learning about in school through my medical courses and even in undergrad where we really had to have a grip on what we wanted to do with our lives. It always stuck with me, it was always a passion and it is something I now get to look forward to as a career (I still can't fathom saying that).
My name is Zach Harrington, MOT/S (Master of Occupational Therapy Student), welcome to my journey of becoming an occupational therapist.
My grandmother used to go to physical therapy for her lower back pain and I would tag along. The physical therapy or therapist never sparked an interest with me, but what did was the OT I saw in the corner practicing. There were so many little things I noticed being done differently on the OT side than the PT side. And once again, it reminded me why I had such a liking for it and why I wanted to stick with that as a career path. My grandfather eventually and unfortunately had to have an experience with rehabilitation as well. He suffered from a stroke that would claim the left side of his body to the point of him being limp on that side. My grandpa had an experience with an occupational therapist through home health as well. After learning about his experiences and what OT could provide for him, I knew once again that I would be an occupational therapist one day. With most of my experience through OT being in the field of geriatrics, I quickly fell in love with that part of the field.
As time went on I would eventually end up meeting OT's, learning about in school through my medical courses and even in undergrad where we really had to have a grip on what we wanted to do with our lives. It always stuck with me, it was always a passion and it is something I now get to look forward to as a career (I still can't fathom saying that).
My name is Zach Harrington, MOT/S (Master of Occupational Therapy Student), welcome to my journey of becoming an occupational therapist.
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