Introducing the sixteenth guest of my column
is a dedicated pediatric occupational therapist practicing in Dubai.She has
been instrumental in establishing and developing the occupational
therapy
services of her hospital.
 |
| Dr Bessy (OT) |
Dr.Bessy Oommen works
as a Senior Occupational therapist in Latifa Women & Children Hospital,
Dubai, a government hospital under the Dubai Health Authority. She has
completed her Master’s in OT in Developmental Disabilities, Fellowship in
Advanced Occupational Therapy- NDD from AIOTA and SIPT Certification from
University of Southern California.
She is also the
Principal Investigator for an ongoing OT research project approved by the Dubai
Scientific Research & Ethical Committee.
Let's read her views further:
1)
Can you share your journey of being an Occupational therapist and what are the
challenges you came across in establishing your practice?
On completion of my Bachelor’s
degree in OT from LTMMC, Mumbai, I moved to UAE and started working in a
special needs center in Sharjah. It was here that I developed a keen interest
in Pediatric OT which led me to join Latifa Women & Children Hospital, a
tertiary-care referral hospital under Dubai Health Authority where I have been
working for the last 20 yrs.
During this time, I
have seen a variety of pediatric cases like Neurodevelopmental conditions involving
CP, Developmental Delays, Spina Bifida, Autism, ADHD, Learning Disabilities, Ex-preterm,
various syndromes to brachial plexus injuries, burns, trauma cases, etc and
have been working through a functional goal directed eclectic approach with
respect to frames of references, working mainly in the areas of fine motor, self-care
and gross motor skills and co-ordination along with achieving an appropriate
arousal.
It has been a
wonderful learning experience of treating children with such varied diagnosis, updating
myself, being able to apply my knowledge and seeing the satisfaction and
happiness on the parents faces on their child’s improvement
The challenges faced initially
were lack of awareness about the role of occupational therapy in pediatrics
among medical doctors which has improved drastically through various awareness
programs and multi-disciplinary meetings with Pediatric Neurology, Surgical and Orthopedic departments.
2)
How has been the growth of Occupational therapy in pediatric and adult
rehabilitation across U.A.E?
Over a period of
time, as awareness of OT has increased among the people and the medical
fraternity, we now have full-fledged OT departments in almost every major
public and private hospital across the UAE and also a number of smaller centers
operating independently catering to a vast cross section of people from different
countries and cultures.
At my hospital, we
have all the branches of rehabilitation including orthotics and we use an
inter-disciplinary approach offering varied services like developmental therapy
using different frames of references, administering standardized evaluations as
per goals set, prescription and fabrication of hand splints, seating evaluation
and prescription of positioning, active and power wheelchairs and prescription
of adaptive aids as required.
3)
What are the newer ways in which OT practices can be enhanced further?
OT therapists in
pediatrics should be able to differentiate between sensory, emotional and
cognitive aspects of behavior and should understand the integration between
visual, vestibular and auditory contributions to learning and engagement in functional
activities. A deeper understanding of neurobiology will also help to evolve
this field of practice.
4)
What is your opinion on lack of OT professional's recognition compared to other
professionals globally?
As with all other
professions, OT also had its teething issues with acceptance, but with
evidence-based practices and research helping to prove its effectiveness from
the pediatric to geriatric age group, it is now a widely accepted and followed
profession worldwide with great job opportunities in the healthcare field as
well as in occupational health and ergonomics.
5)
What is your advice to the young professionals exploring entrepreneurship
revenues?
Being employed in a
government hospital all these years, I would not be the right person to give
advice on entrepreneurship, but with my experience I would suggest that one
should consider offering an inter-disciplinary, goal-directed approach to
address various needs of the client at viable rates as the treatment is long-term.
The other challenge is to include OT services in the scope of coverage of
medical insurances.
Your
highlights:
My professional strength:
Setting functional
goals for clients, educating and training parents to implement home programs
for continuation of therapy.
My inspirational moment:
My in-service
training with Ms.Deb Humpel of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and my mentor
for Fellowship, Ms.Ashwini Vaishnampayan who both influenced me in setting
goal-directed treatment approach for my clients.
I dislike the most :
Clients being referred
late for OT in-spite of receiving other rehabilitation therapies and disrespect
for my profession.
I am known for:.
An honest, hardworking
and innovative professional with an empathetic approach to my clients.
P.S: I extend my gratitude to her for her valuable time.See you all next Saturday with another guest.
-SSW
