Is it 4 months already?.......

Wow!! Almost 4 months since our last blog post - our apologies if you have been visiting the blog and hoping to read and engage with new posts. I have no specific reason other than the pressure of other priorities. I guess you could say I was grappling with occupational balance - with my work role taking a priority as the University introduces changes to many of our systems for assessment, grading and feedback. These are now mastered and so I feel I may have brain space to consider blogging again.

Much has been happening since the last post. We are currently in the process of selecting applicants for our Full Time BSc (Hons) programme and will begin interviewing soon. I (Angela) have recently taken on the role of admissions tutor and am undertaking a project looking at values based recruitment. We have had a number of high profile cases in the UK media recently involving nursing staff in situations where their ability to demonstrate care and compassion for an individual has been questioned, leading many to question how people are being selected to go into the profession. The recently published NHS Constitution identifies values that should be held by all staff and so I am looking at this and other drivers and holding consultations with staff, students, service users and employers about what values are a priority for an occupational therapist and how we may assess for these before offering a place on the programme. This has become an interesting project and I shall be delivering my results to our Directorate Board later in the year and hope to share my findings in relevant professional forums.

Our application process for the online MSc Advanced Occupational Therapy programme is still open (closing August 2013). You can find more information about it here - or contact us if you have any specific queries.

Four of our second year students have been given a volunteering opportunity to work with a local mental health trust to design and deliver a carer's group with an innovative focus - sorry if that sounds mysterious - but we don't want to publicise what we are doing too far and wide at the moment - we are intending to present at COT conference in Glasgow later on in the year - and then we will happily share with you here too. However, in the process of the discussion and design period one of the students drew my attention to this website: Patient Voices- excellent resource and some great stories for sharing that highlight issues experienced from all points of views.

OK, perhaps that's all I can offer at the moment, we are considering having a regular newsletter to distribute which will give more news and views from the directorate staff and students which we will link through the the blog. In the meantime I will start to write more pieces that you can start to engage with again very soon. Thanks for sticking with us.