I've never really understoof why there is sometimes this rivalry between OTs and PTs. I went to China to work in a childrens rehab centre with 8 other occupational therapists. To be honest some of them had no idea what a physio does and just assumed I would be treating the patients with massage! Throughout my previous placements this year I tried to make an effort to recognise what an OT did because I didn't really understand their role. I attended my patients OT and speech sessios and began to become familiar with what my patients did outside of the physio and medical management. So i was a little bit offended that the OT students weren't familiar with our role because surely they had been exposed to a bit of it during their placements this year. Anyway on the trip I realised how well the two professions can complement each other. For example I would work with one of the children with another OT student. I would focus on the posture/positioning and challenge the child this way, whilst the OT did some UL work.
It made me realise that we shouldn't be so stubborn about our roles and who does what.
Working together, made the session so much easier, the child got more out of it and you could bounce ideas off each other to make the task more challenging etc.
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I have also realised how well OT`s and physios can work together whilst on my neuro prac. Wheelchair prescription is a huge part of any neuro ward, and this is best done with the physio and the OT at the same time as we both have useful information and hints to add in order to make the patient as comfortable as possible. If you liase closely with the OT you also get to incorporate a lot of upper limb work in each other sessions, working on common goals to achieve the best functional outcome for the patient. And this goes for all other allied health professions, such as speech pathology. I have been a part of quite a few combined treatment sessions and they really benefit the patient.
I was amazed at how much the patients benefited from this dual-therapy approach. It made it so much easier to coordinate treatment goals... and in most cases we had set the same goals but were going about them in different ways. Once i got used to liazing more frequently, my treatment sessions felt much more directed.
There is definitely room for more teamwork between different Allied Health professionals. This is especially true for OT's and PT's however the problem is that sometimes the distinction between our areas of expertise is blurred. The main area that comes to mind for me is that of walking aid prescription and supply.
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