Eye on occupational therapy

AN occupational therapist is specifically trained to identify how an environment can be modified and can provide training on using assistive equipment to achieve greater independence. They can also make recommendations to maximise accessibility and ergonomic function at home and work.

The future remains bright for occupational therapy in Malaysia. According to an article in The Star dated Sept 18, 2016, there is a shortage of registered occupational therapists in Malaysia with a ratio of 1:17,777, which is three times below the global average of occupational therapist-to-population ratio of 1:5,000.

Apart from public healthcare, occupational therapists can work for non-government organisations focusing on paediatric and geriatric care, mental institutions or city councils.

Occupational therapists get to complete work by 6pm and do not have to be on-call, making the career an attractive one because of the work-life balance.

Perdana University is the only private institution that offers the Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Occupational Therapy.

Perdana University was established as a Public Private Partnership (PPP) initiative by Academic Medical Centre Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of Chase Perdana Sdn Bhd with the support of the Unit Kerjasama Awam Swasta of the Prime Minister’s Department.

Its well-furnished and conducive interim campus in the Malaysia Agro Exposition Park Serdang (MAEPS), is just a short drive to the townships of Serdang, Sri Kembangan and Putrajaya and several minutes from IOI City Mall. The university attracts some of the brightest and promising academics both locally and internationally.

There are six schools within the university and the Perdana University School of Occupational Therapy (PUScOT) manages the Occupational Therapy programme.