Do we (American OTs) have connections with OTs in the UK?
AOTA leadership and staff are in regular contact with their counterparts in the UK and there are a number of academicians from each side of the pond who have collaborated on occupational therapy research. AOTA members who are also members of WFOT (The World Federation of Occupational Therapists) can be in contact with colleagues from all over the world, including the UK. Click here for The British Association of Occupational Therapists/College of Occupational Therapists contact information.
You do via this site - I'm an OT from the UK!
HI -- I'm an OT from NYC. I have a friend and coworker from Scotland who has her master's of OT from a school in Scotland, but is now trying to go through the process of becoming an OT in the U.S.
She's currently working as a direct care staff at a group home within our agency and feeling very discouraged by the whole process of filling out a 22 page OTED application and completing the additional items she needs to do before even taking the NBCOT exam. She's looking for some fellow international OT contacts to talk to about the whole process. Unfortunately, I don't know too many international OTs in the U.S. anymore.
Anyone have any light they can shed on this? OR would anyone be willing to give out an email to talk with my friend Suzanne about the process?
Thanks,
Meghan :)
Hi Megan
If your friend is still interested i am a UK citizen, working in the US and am happy to offer any support I an - apologies for the late reply but I hardly frequent the forums very much since the change.
Paul
Hi - I am a US citizen thinking of going to school in the UK (Cardiff, Brunel) for Occupational Therapy. I would be interested in hearing your experiences in trying to apply international degrees towards AOTA membership and the NBCOT exam! I just posted the following:
http://otconnections.aota.org/forums/p/4142/49432.aspx#49432
I am just trying to get opinions on if this would be a smart choice in pathways towards becoming an Occupational Therapist!
Thanks!
molly
Hi, I'm an OT student in the UK, 2nd year
WFOT is a good place for contact ideas too.
Go to http://www.wfot.org/
There is a delegate from the UK that you can contact...and it also gives you contact information for all the OT educational programs
Hi Paul,
Did you emmigrate from the UK as an OT? I am currently studying OT at uni in Derby and would like to practise in the US. Can you tell me what process I need to go through in order to get a job as an OT over there? Should I move first then apply for jobs or should I apply and the move etc etc? I understand I need to get state licensure too.
Thanks
Helen
Just fyi, I am an OT that has connections with OT colleagues in the UK. Do you have specific questions about this?
Tina Champagne
MH SIS Chair
I realize this thread is a couple of years old but worth a shot! I'm a US citizen currently in a Masters Level Occupational Therapy program in the UK. I spoke with a representative at the NBCOT about eligibility to sit for the national exam when I graduate in 2 years and she said I shouldn't have a problem. However she did say guidelines could change by then and to check back about a year or 6 months before I graduate. In the meantime she advised that I review the current OTED handbook on eligibility requirements (I fall under category A but she said that will change so that ANY int'l trained OTs must submit the required materials indicated for category B) and to take a look at the 22 page Determination of Masters Comparability (DMC). I noticed there are some items on the DMC that may not be covered as part of my training in the UK such as supervision of COTAs since i dont think they have them here and use of thermal agents.
Do you or anyone know if you can be rejected for exam eligibility for not meeting one or two of the items on this form? If so how can you go about meeting the criteria?? Any advice would help as I can bring up these issues with my professors and maybe tailor my education a bit to include additional training thats not usually part of the program. Thank you!!
Even as a student, I now do. For me, it was one after another, as I am connecting with both students and professionals who are working over there.