ตัดตอนจากอีเมล์ของอาจารย์ท่านหนึ่ง ที่กำลังศึกษา ป. เอก อยู่ที่ออสเตรเลีย ...ผมได้ข้อคิดที่ดีจากอาจารย์รุ่นพี่ท่านนี้เสมอถึงพัฒนาการของกิจกรรมบำบัดในระดับสากล

Email sent from Australia 

I just got this information from school of OT at La Trobe. In the near future, they will make OT curriculum a master level not bachelor level as we have before or up to today. I think it may be good to see what direction other OT schools in Aus and US do. I think Aus might copy from the US.
 
The folowing is the message that I got: "From 2009 all allied health professional preparation programs (OT, podiatry, social work, speech pathology, PT, prosthetics and othotics, health information management) will become double degrees comprising bachelor and master level studies. In occupational therapy, students will enrol in an occupational therapy course via VTAC and undertake a 4 year program in which the first year will be common with all other health science students. In the second year, the study of occupational therapy will be introduced, resulting at the end of 4 years, in the qualification of Masters of Occupational Therapy Practice (MOT Prac).

Replied Email from Dr. POP 

Thank you so much for your information.
 
I have realised an advantage for having a double degree course in OT professionals. However, OT Mahidol staffs need to develop a hight quality of OT bachelor enough to the publics prior to upgrading a master profressional level.
 
After I have come back, the most difficulty job is to change all younger staffs' attitude and action on how occupational therapy takes a part of human life, not just being a clinician but performing more clinical reasoning and academic developer.

Email sent from Australia

Dear Pop,
Yes, I also think it's a good idea to keep in mind about a double degree course. It might be one way to make our profession outstanding in one of health care professionals in the future.

I heard that the ministry of bublic health has put our profession into a supporting professional bar of the reformed salary system. I don't know if it is true or not. I hope they will not do that.
 
Also agree with you about the clinical reasoning.  Probably, there are a lot of issues contributing to the lack of clinical reasoning. The Thai education system is also counted. In my experience, students prefered a multiple choice exam than a writen exam. In the beginning of my career as a lecturer, I had more writen exam in my part but students complained that it was too dificult. So later, I had to changed to a multiple choice exam. I think maybe other lecturer also had the same problem so what I saw lately, they have more multiple choices. There is nothing wrong with a multiple choice exam. It still can be based on clinical reasoning but somehow the writen exam is also useful to stimulate clinical reasoning.
 
From a clinical perspective, I might be wrong, I found Thai OTs use a lot of sensory integration framework in their practices no matter in what condition. I have shared my  office with Aus OT who is studying PhD in pediatric OT and we discussed about sensory integration. She said she did not use it as routine. She would incorporate several frameworks to guide her practice. Again, there is nothing wrong about sensory integration framework but I think somehow it contributes to the lack of clinical reasoning or may be lack of clinical reasoning leading to lacking of a holistic view point of practice. Well there are a lot more when talking about clinical reasoning.

 

 Replied Email from Dr. POP 

Your opinion on lacking of clinical reasoning skills in Thai OT students and clinicians is absolutely true. I have noted in some pages through my blog. Please check it out at http://gotoknow.org/blog/otpop/126449 and http://gotoknow.org/blog/otpop/119868
 
Regarding putting our Thai OTs in a wrong government bar of salary position. I think Thai OT Assoc. has been proposing an official letter to change the bar to the specialized professionals. Somehow, I will let you know once this slow process is set.
 
I hope you don't mind if I put your message in my blog. This may encourage Thai OTs to be thinking in professional rationale rather than doing routinized techniques.