Student to Professionals:

Why did they choose OT?

Their Stories

Occupational therapists (OT) work with clients from cradle to grave through all walks of life. It is a meaningful career which empowers clients and improves their quality of life.

Lets hear from Leanna Nyoman, SIT pioneer batch student share her experience on why she choose occupational therapy:

I first heard about Occupational Therapy through my JC’s career fair talk. After my A Levels, I job-shadowed Occupational Therapists (OT) at a few hospitals. I had not known what it was then, but what piqued my interest at the talk and subsequently sealed the deal through my job shadowing, was “patient-centered care”. In my early exposure to the profession, it impressed on me that every patient is part of a complex network of—amongst other things—personal and environmental factors, medical and social factors, which a therapist should always consider when returning patients back to their meaningful activities, or “occupations”. Enabling these occupations allows patients to perform their roles where they could be someone’s mother, teacher, or caregiver. Considering all these factors made the practice both an art and science which sounded fun and convincing to me.

In school, learning about all the holistic frameworks used by OTs and the various intervention strategies helped me concretise “patient-centered care”. I especially enjoyed clinicals because I could practice what was preached and see results. I could see how the time and energy I put in school would translate to real-world benefits i.e., better patient outcomes. I appreciated how interventions were never prescriptive and up to your imagination, based on your clinical interpretation of the problem. You can think way out of the box yet still be deeply grounded in evidence.

Through training and practice, I feel like being an Occupational Therapist has also encouraged me to be a kinder, better, more empathetic person. When I get tired on some days, it’s always very refreshing and motivating to go back to the purpose of an Occupational Therapist: enabling occupation. I’ve thus never regretted becoming an OT because of how meaningful that is!

Hear more from OTs who had experience working with clients with disabilities through volunteering which ignited their love and passion for this profession. Click here to find out more on Ms Cody Chew and Ms Teo Xinyun volunteering experience, education and their work through their interview with The Straits Time Scholars’ Choice.

Exposure to the profession through close friends and family gave these OTs a better understanding of the meaning of “OCCUPATION”. Click here to find out more how Ms Evelyn Fong get the know about the profession, leading her to become a practicing OT.

Curious to Find Out More?

Job shadowing provides opportunities for interested applicants to understand more about what an OT does. You may write to the respective organization to seek job shadowing or volunteer opportunities. NUHS, TTSH, and NCSS provides job shadowing opportunities. Click on the link to find out more. 

To find out how to start your OT education, click here.

To find out more on scholarship and sponsorship available, click here.

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