AIC students celebrate Occupational Therapy Month
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SPRINGFIELD--April is Occupational Therapy Month, and the students at American International College wanted to spread the word. On Wednesday, April 23, OT students celebrated Occupational Therapy Day from 10:00 - 11:00 a.m.
The event featured a variety of demonstrations to let people know what occupational therapy is all about.
Emily Hayes, a OT junior and member of the Student Occupational Therapy Association, said the event was about bringing awareness to the profession.
"We provided materials to make stress balls, we adaptive equipment was available for people to try out. We will tested people's grip strengths," she said.
The career of occupational therapist made U.S. News & World Report's list of 31 "Best Careers 2008." It also listed the job of an occupational therapy consultant as a "smart specialty." In selecting the most promising careers, U.S. News considered job satisfaction, training difficulty, prestige and job market outlook.
"What we really want to do as an organization is educate students and the community about what occupational therapy is, what we do, and how it's beneficial," Hayes said.
Cathy Dow-Royer, director of the AIC Division of Occupational Therapy, said it is not surprising that the OT field is growing. "The shortage of occupational therapists, an aging population, and general job satisfaction have contributed to giving the career a pretty enviable position," she aid.
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