Salus OT Community Celebrates World OT Day

By: Kaylin Magosin '20OT

This year, the international occupational therapy (OT) community celebrates World OT Day on October 27. An initiative of the World Federation of Occupational Therapists (WFOT), World OT Day launched in 2010 as an international way to promote and celebrate occupational therapy, with the goal of increasing awareness for the profession and recognizing the global impact of OT. The WFOT represents 101 national OT professional organizations, providing a global link between them.

The Salus University OT community celebrated on Thursday, October 25. Members of the Student Occupational Therapy Association (SOTA) set up a table outside of the café to educate other University students, faculty and staff about OT. SOTA president, Mauli Chothani ‘20OTsaid that she wanted other students at Salus to know what OT is. To address this goal, SOTA students at the table asked those who stopped by the table “two truths and a lie” about the OT profession, testing their knowledge. Upon answering a question, they could take a baked good. Additionally, SOTA handed out lollipops with fun facts about OT. People were encouraged to donate to SOTA as well, with the goal to provide funding for OT students to attend conferences as well as to help SOTA plan additional events.

Madison Dunning ‘21OD was one of the students that stopped by the table and participated in the activities. “I learned that [as an OT] you can be in more than just a rehab setting, like a hospital or school,” she said.

In addition to promoting awareness of the profession itself, to highlight the global connectedness of OT, this year’s theme was “celebrating our global community.” Andrea Tyszka,MS,OTR/L,SIPT, associate professor noted the importance of considering how OT needs may be different in other countries.

“You tend to focus on what’s going on in your backyard and you forget that although OT started here [in the United States], it’s branched out to all over the world and I think it’s nice to know how other people are addressing issues,” she said. 

In keeping with the theme, WFOT provides several suggestions to celebrate World OT Day, including joining the international occupational therapy online network, participating in the WFOT Virtual Exchange, which includes a series of webinars that build on WFOT’s annual conference, as well as volunteering in a day of service. 

Whether nationally or internationally, when asked what she wants people to know about OT, Tyszka said, “We aren’t just a healthcare profession. Healthcare is an arena that people choose to practice in often but not always, we also work in schools, communities, and museums. I think that people don’t always know about the holistic nature of what we do. They see OT in one practice area and they think that encompasses our entire profession - just to know that we are diverse in the needs that we address.”