Saima's Khatta Meetha OT Talk-Dr Bessy Oommen(OT)

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