Saturday, May 24, 2008

Are there any Egyptian OT's or students living abroad?

Since not everyone reads the comment section of the blog, I wanted to move some of the discussions to the posting section so everyone can have the advantage of reading these comments.

Through the comment section, people reading the blog from numerous countries have expressed how excited they are to read about OT advancement in Egypt.

Over the past year, two Egyptian American OT's and several Egyptian American and Egyptian Canadian students have also contacted me through the blog. Some will visit Egypt and are interested in meeting other OT's who are living and working in Cairo. All are happy to hear that OT awareness is growing in Egypt.

I recently received two messages in the comment section from two Egyptian American OT students, Khalid and Hind, who are living in New York and are future first and second year students attending university in New York.

Khalid brought up a good point, as he posted the following comment on the blog:

"I think why Occupational Therapy is not well known or understood in the middle east, is because the definition of Occupations differs, in Middle Eastern countries as oppose to the United States and Europe. Middle Eastern countries tend to define occupations as just a "job" that they must attend to everyday. While in Western society it is defined more broadly as what we call ADLs. Occupational therapy needs to be well understood so that the profession takes off in Egypt as well as other Middle Eastern countries."

Public awareness of what Occupational Therapy is and how one can benefit from these services is key in developing educational programs and job opportunities in Egypt.

If anyone has any stories (not only written material, but also accompanying them with pictures or video will provide a strong message) about their experiences with Occupational Therapy services, please share them on the blog.

If there are any other Egyptian born OT's who are interested in corresponding with OT's currently living and working in Egypt, please contact me through the blog or email me at LME1169@gmail.com

Hope to hear from more Egyptian OT's and future Egyptian OT's!

Thanks,
Laura

3 comments:

Khalid said...

Thanks for the acknowledgement Laura. I am very humbled. Good luck to you and the Team!!! Kudos to all!

Hind Mohamed said...

Hi laura,
Next semester I will be starting my second year of OT school, and I will be starting my feildwork and affilations. I happened to speak to one of my professors about the development of OT in egypt, and she had mentioned to me that I can do my feildwork overseas. Therefore, I was wondering if it is possible that OT students can do their feildwork in OT facilities in Egypt? It would be an interesting experience for my collegues that are intersted and myself.

Thank you,
Hind Mohamed, OTS

Helal and Sue said...

Salam Hind Mohamed
I am the Senior occupational therapist at El Agouza Rheumatology and Rehabilitation Centre. Currently we are looking at taking final year occupational therapy students from the University of South Australia. In order for this to happen, that university and the Centre need to sign an agreement that meets both the university's requirements for overseas student placements and the centre's requirments too.
If you are interested in undertaking a placement, and given that we are have only two occupational therapists and therefore cant take large numbers of students, you can ask your field practice coordinator or head of school to contact me directly.
sue.hartshorne@gmail.com
Kind regards and all the best with your study.
Sue