Ron As a COTA who just finished her MS in OT, my suggestion is to center your talk on what you are obviously passionate about, occupation.
As several people have noted, COTAs get to do the ongoing treatment in cooperation with and under the supervision of the OT. Any of us, OT or COTA, can get caught up in using a more biomechanical or medical model, because it IS measurable in a way that insurers and management can understand. COTAs, especially fairly new ones, follow the lead of their OT supervisors. If OTs are still struggling with this question, COTAs will be too. In my OT class a number of the students had no real clue as to why they were doing some of the labs that used hands on activities as the teaching tool - unless it was a splint, evaluation or ADL focused thing. I know a few had expected to be more medically based so doing an activity analysis of an activity didn't fit into their picture of what they should be doing. Some suggestions might be: Show how you are able to set goals that focus on occupation and are measurable. Using a few case studies to demonstrate the difference between a more biomechanical model and an occupationally based one may be one way to go---in fact, maybe this list would like to see it too since it seems to be a common thread throughout the discussions. Give any evidence you may have to show that an occupationally based treatment is more effective would be helpful too since EBP (evidence based practice) is important for the COTA to be looking for as well as OTs. Let us know how it comes out. Laurie Laurie Bauch, COTA, MS, OT -- Options? www.otnow.com/mailman/options/otlist_otnow.com Archive? www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]
