World Occupational Therapy Day Celebrated in Üsküdar!

Üsküdar University Faculty of Health Sciences Occupational Therapy Department students organized a 'World Occupational Therapy Day' event on the occasion of October 27 World Occupational Therapy Day. Organized under the leadership of Head of Occupational Therapy Department Prof. Dr. Sevda Asqarova and held online via Zoom, occupational therapy was introduced to students in all its aspects. The event was moderated by Occupational Therapy Department representative Berkay Karpuz.

At the event, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th-year students and graduate occupational therapists from the Occupational Therapy Department took the floor. Afterwards, videos prepared by the department's students were watched.

'I used to celebrate this day as if I were an occupational therapist since high school'

Sema Korkmaz, a 1st-year student of the Occupational Therapy Department, expressed her interest in occupational therapy: 'Actually, as first-year students, this is the first time we are celebrating Occupational Therapy Day. But if I speak for myself, this is not my first Occupational Therapy Day. Since I always researched and read about it during high school and while preparing for university, I always celebrated this day as if I were already an Occupational Therapist.'

'Having an Occupational Therapy Day increases motivation in the profession'

Gülcan Aktaş, a final-year student of the Occupational Therapy Department, emphasized that celebrating Occupational Therapy Days is very important for professional motivation: 'The existence of an Occupational Therapy Day and our celebration of it greatly increases motivation in the profession. I am very happy to have chosen this profession and to be practicing it. Occupational therapy is beautiful as long as we create, sustain, advance, and exist in this profession.'

'An occupational therapist must be versatile'

Postgraduate student and Occupational Therapist İsa Kör emphasized the importance of occupational therapists being versatile: 'After I graduated, I went on a trip to South America. After arriving, when I looked at the people and occupational therapists I met, I felt inadequate individually. For this reason, I tried to read more books and also get involved in music. I am someone who supports everyone being versatile. I also try to be versatile myself. We must be versatile because there are many individuals we will encounter, and we must speak their language.'