Zara Beattie - Cumbria Talent Force

Q&A

— Give a short overview of your career journey after school

Following completing my A-Levels in 2021, I went to York St John to complete my undergraduate degree in Occupational Therapy. Throughout my 3 years there I completed four placements in different specialities: inpatient rehabilitation, community mental health team, community stroke team and an orthopaedic ward. For my final placement I returned home to Cumbria, and was a student alongside the team I now work in.

— What do you love about your job?

Occupational therapists use the term occupation to describe any activities that are meaningful to people. Therefore the nature of the job is to enable people to live meaningful lives. By practicing skills or finding ways to compensate for lost skills Occupational Therapists help people to address change by pursuing normality by completing day to day activities. To do this, we analysis the way individuals complete an activity and then problem solve to ensure they can continue to engage in this, after an injury or illness. I love that there is no day the same in Occupational Therapy, as we look at the individual's health and wellbeing there is no set intervention - we are person centred and focus our interventions on their interests. There is also so many specialities which you can enter into and that our role is constantly developing. To help our role develop we maintain an evidence-based approach, which involves completing research (in groups or individually) and using this research as the evidence for why we complete interventions. This means that everyday is a school day and that there is always more to learn.

— What piece of advice would you give to young people about finding their best next step?

I would recommend to reflect on what your interests are, and who has supported you with these interests. Do you think you could help others in the same way you have been supported?

— What three essential skills do you think have helped you to be successful in your job?

Listening, Problem Solving, Creativity.

— What advice would you give to someone considering working in your industry?

I would recommend you learn about people who have lived experience of an Occupational Therapist. The author Michael Rosen (who wrote we're going on a bear hunt!) was in a covid-19 induced coma in 2020, and has been vocal about his experience of rehabilitation and how Occupational Therapists and Physiotherapists enabled him to recover. I would also recommend asking to shadow an Occupational Therapist in an area that interests you - we always welcome new learners!

— What is the best piece of advice you have been given that has helped you on your career journey?

You can do anything but not everything. It is always a good idea to ask questions, you aren't expected to know everything and part of the problem solving process is to bounce off other people's ideas.