Personal Statement for Occupational Therapy Program

Personal Statement for Occupational Therapy Program

After graduating from .University of Telecommunications and Informatics in 1992, I have built a successful career in the telecommunications industry, mostly working in sales and business administration capacities for large international companies. The part of the career that I have enjoyed most has been the opportunity to communicate and build relationships with people. I consider my communication skills and my ability to assess complex problems and resolve them as my prime strengths.

After my daughter's birth in 2002, big changes happened in my family. We decided to move to Canada, where I have continued working in the telecommunications industry. My husband also became employed in his profession, and now I can say we are quite settled in Canada. As such, I now find it possible to fulfill an old desire to change my career to a profession which better suits my natural propensities and interests.

Being the granddaughter of a doctor (my grandmother took part in the Second World War as a military doctor) and the daughter of an ergonomist (my mother has been working for more than 25 years as engineer-ergonomist in the aviation industry in Russia), I was always interested in these fields. I was surrounded by medical books and magazines, which I read with interest from an early age. Only the difficult Russian economic situation of the late 1980s greatly influenced my decision to choose an education in engineering.

Being a mature person who has worked in a typical office environment for almost 20 years, I know how sore necks, shoulders, backs, eyes, and wrists due to poor workplace ergonomics can affect the productivity and the overall quality of the lives of working people. I also lived through the experience of taking care of my grandmother, who moved in with us after she turned 80. I know how the quality of life of older people with medical conditions can be improved if their living environment is adjusted to suit their changing needs.

When volunteering at York Central Hospital's ICU department, I met a woman whose disabled 30-year-old son was an ICU patient. She had taken care of him all his life. What amazed me was that she did not seem to be depressed or unhappy. We discussed his swallowing difficulties and she told me that drinking a smoothie, instead of juice, made a great difference. Throughout, she was smiling and joking. I realized at that moment that living with a medical condition is not the "end of life" -- it is life. Improving a person's quality of life is always worth the effort. Occupational Therapists take a leadership role here.