Building a Global OT Profession

Earn 1 hour of continuing education by joining OT Potential after taking this course.

Listen: Apple | Spotify | YouTube

Since this keynote address from the World Federation of Occupational Therapy Congress was published in 2019, it has been cited so many times that it made our list of the 100 most-cited OT journal articles. 

It’s easy to see why this has become such a popular read. The article stitches occupational therapy together with global trends, in particular growing inequality. 

The author challenges us to see this problem clearly. And, calls us upon us to build globally relevant occupational therapy from the strength of our diversity. 

In this one hour CE course, we’ll review this article, then to talk about practical implications of creating change in occupational therapy we are excited to welcome Vikram Pagpatan EdD, OTR/L, ATP, CLA, BCP, FAOTA to the podcast.

Primary Journal Article Explored

When you log in, be sure to check out the OT Potential Club’s written breakdown of the following research article. Then, share your questions and thoughts with fellow practitioners.

• Building globally relevant occupational therapy from the strength of our diversity

Supporting Research and Journal Articles

• Estimation and Comparison of Current and Future Racial/Ethnic Representation in the US Health Care Workforce

• A call to resist occupational therapy’s promotion of ableism

Learning Objectives

• You will be able to identify instances where OT theory may be too narrow/ limited to achieve our desired global impact. 
• You will be able to recognize strategies to bring multiple perspectives into your OT services and advocacy. 

Agenda

Intro (5 minutes)

Breakdown and analysis of journal article (5 minutes)

• 00:00:00 Intro
• 00:01:15 OT Potential Podcast Intro
• 00:03:00 About this address
• 00:03:45 Terminology
• 00:04:15 The genesis of “Northern” OT theories
• 00:05:00 The problem with excluding multiple perspectives
• 00:05:35 What is neoliberalism?
• 00:07:07 Neoliberalism and OT values
• 00:08:26 Neoliberalism in our dominant models
• 00:09:33 Building a more relevant and inclusive theoretical base 00:11:42 How OT can contribute to society

Discussion on practical implications for OTs (50 minutes)

• 00:13:37 Intro to Vikram Pagpatan
• 00:15:30 Becoming an OT advocate
• 00:21:00 Impressions of this article
• 00:26:10 Expanding our understanding of valued occupations, beyond ADLs
• 00:31:17 Practicing cultural humility
• 00:35:44 Triangulating knowledge with individual clients
• 00:40:33 Ensuring the diversity of our membership
• 00:49:39 Triangulating our knowledge on a national level
• 00:53:07 Association’s role in addressing inequitable structures
• 00:55:38 Opportunities do you see for global collaboration 
• 00:59:16 Hope for the future of OT

Target Audience/Educational Level

Our target audience is occupational therapy practitioners who are looking to learn about Building Globally Relevant.  The educational level is introductory.

Financial and Non-financial Disclosures

It is the policy of OT Potential to disclose any financial and non-financial interest the provider or instructor may have in a product or service mentioned during an activity. This is to ensure that the audience is made aware of any bias of the speaker.

We here at OT Potential have no financial stake in this topic.  Our guest, Vikram Pagpatan, also has no financial disclosures.

Speakers

Vikram Pagpatan EdD, OTR/L, ATP, CLA, BCP, FAOTA

Vikram is an OTRL from New York City. Being of South Asian descent (Indian-American) and as a first generation university graduate, establishing pathways and mechanisms of recruitment, mentorship, and retention in higher education, especially for students from disadvantaged and under-represented communities is a powerful passion of mine as I currently practice as a full time faculty member and admissions coordinator of the State University of New York Downstate Health Sciences University MSOT program in Brooklyn, New York. My clinical background is in adult and pediatric rehabilitation with a focus on assistive technology practice and acute care practice. I am a strong believer in not allowing inequities of any form to stand in the way of positive sustainable changes through powerful actions and am privileged and honored to serve the OTP community and its stakeholders at large as an elected AOTA Board Director and as the newly elected President of the Association of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in Occupational Therapy (www.aapiot.org), non-profit knowledge based organization committed to educating the public, healthcare practitioners and students on issues impacting the AAPI communities. These national leadership roles have enabled me to look back and extend a hand of support to the next generation of emerging leaders, acknowledging their potential, their proven skills, talents, and merits for success. 

Sarah Lyon, OTR/L

Sarah’s passion is helping fellow OT practitioners translate evidence into daily practice. Sarah earned her BA in religion from St. Olaf College, then earned her master’s degree in occupational therapy from New York University in 2011.

Since then, she’s worked in numerous facilities, including a critical access hospital, an acute trauma hospital, and a state inpatient psychiatric hospital. Sarah is the founder/owner of OT Potential. Read more about OT Potential here.

This course was designed to meet your continuing education requirements

We designed the courses in the Club to meet the requirements for “online” and “independent/self-study” courses. For more details read our blog post: Can I earn OT CEUS from a podcast? To verify the requirements from your specific state (within the US), check out our post, OT Continuing Education Explained. If you are outside of the United States and have questions, please contact us.

We are proud to be an AOTA Approved Provider and to meet the requirements for your NBCOT renewal.

---

See our other OT courses!