A Student’s Guide to Dispelling Common Misconceptions about OT
Rebecca Langbein, Thomas Jefferson University
“I’m in physical therapy right now. Can I call you back?”
This was the question that haunted me throughout my most recent Level II fieldwork experience as an occupational therapy student. Yet, none of my patients were in PT. They were in OT! It’s a dance that we OT students are taught early on in our education. People think OT and PT are the same or that OT works with the upper body while PT works with the lower body.
I strongly believe in our profession’s work, our vision, and the unique contribution that we can make to individuals, communities, populations, and the world at large. But before we can do that, people need to understand who we are and what we do. On the very first day of my OT program, we were instructed to create and practice our “elevator speech” to briefly explain what OT is. We were told there is no doubt people are going to ask us this question. For it to resonate, the elevator speech needs to resonate with the individual you’re talking to. This means you need to be able to adapt it on the fly, depending on who you’re talking to.
Still working on your elevator speech? Below are a few ideas that my peers and I have used to describe OT and address common misconceptions about our profession:
1. “OT and PT are basically the same, right?”
Not exactly. Though our services can overlap, and we often do work together. OT is primarily focused on helping patients do the things they want and need to do in their daily lives. For example, if you’re a construction worker who has to lift and transport manholes every day, and you hurt your wrist, we’re going to help you rebuild the strength to lift those manholes again. If you love to draw but develop carpal tunnel syndrome, we can adapt and alter your work environment and tools to help you continue to create art, pain-free! If you had a stroke and were having trouble eating with a fork and knife, we can teach you how to use adaptive equipment to steady your hands.
2. “I didn’t know OT practitioners and PTs were different. How?”
While a PT might help you safely get out of the bed in the morning and walk 15 feet to your front door, an OT will meet you there and ask, “Now what?” As OT practitioners, we work with the “now what” and the activities that our clients want and need to do on a day-to-day basis.
3. “I always thought that OT practitioners work with the upper body and PTs work with the lower body.”
This common misconception may be based on OT practitioners who are certified hand therapists. Yet OT practitioners work with people on their occupations, their activities, and the things they do daily, most of which require your full body, including hands, arms, and legs, and even cognition.
4. “So, occupational therapists help people get jobs?”
Not exactly. The word occupation in our job title refers to any and all activities or tasks that we want and need to do. Occupations can be as simple as sleeping or as complex as driving to a grocery store, purchasing required items while considering quality and price, putting them away at home, and making meals! The word “occupation” can also include things that people typically need to do at their jobs, such as concentrating, standing or sitting for long periods, typing on a computer, etc.
5. “OT practitioners just take people to the bathroom in the hospital and work with kids who are diagnosed with autism, right?”
When an OT practitioner takes someone to the bathroom in a hospital they’re evaluating that person’s balance, ability to toilet independently (or not), awareness of safety issues, potential for adaptive equipment, and other criteria to inform the goals of therapy and discharge plans. When OT practitioners work with kids with autism, they focus on their strengths while teaching social and other skills that will transfer to across environments to help ensure success. Focusing on what people want and need to do means we work with individuals with a variety of acute and chronic diagnoses across the life span. This can, and often does, occur one-on-one in a traditional medical setting, but it doesn’t have to. OT practitioners can work with groups, populations, and communities in a variety of settings to do this work. The goal of OT is to empower everyone regardless of diagnoses, challenges, or limitations to be active, equal participants in their lives and in the world.
6. “OT practitioners just work in hospitals, right?”
Many OT practitioners do work in hospitals, but their skills in analyzing and adapting activities make them valuable contributors in many other settings. For example, OT practitioners make excellent environmental designers, as they can analyze how people interact with the space and the objects around them, and how their interactions with the environment may be limited due to many different factors. You also see OT practitioners in schools, community centers, homes, and other non-medical environments.
What kinds of questions do you hear most often about OT? What are your patients confused about? As students, I believe we have a responsibility to be ready to answer these questions and to have these conversations if we want to truly reach our potential in our own careers and demonstrate our profession’s unique value.
In order to make our mark in the most profound way, we owe it to ourselves to advocate for who we are and what we do. We should be confident in and proud of the knowledge and skills we have, demonstrate these skills, and boldly discuss them with others. I encourage you to seize those moments when you hear misconceptions as opportunities to educate and speak up for OT practitioners everywhere!
Rebecca Langbein is in her second year of OT school at Thomas Jefferson University. An avid runner, dedicated daughter and sister, self-proclaimed “OT geek,” and bookworm, Rebecca is constantly inspired to learn about all of the things OT practitioners can do to empower clients and even communities. Having studied engineering, psychology, and ethics during undergraduate studies at Lehigh University, her dream is to someday blend her passions in order to design equipment and technologies that will enhance participation for people with varying needs. She is proud to be entering the profession at this pivotal moment and is open and excited to see where her OT journey takes her.