Category: Placement

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International student experience – Internship in Chile

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My name is Ine Persyn, I am 22 years old, and I graduated in 2023 as an occupational  therapist at the Artevelde University in Ghent. I have a passion for traveling and exploring nature and new cultures. I found it exciting to combine my studies with my passion by doing an international internship. During my final year of my bachelor’s program, I had the opportunity to complete a three-month internship in South America, specifically in Chile, along with a fellow student. Reflecting on this adventure, I would like to share my experience of interning outside Europe, the value it added to my personal and professional identity, and provide some tips for students considering a similar experience.

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International Student Experience – Erasmus Internship in Belgium

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In Ghent University (source: private picture)

Hello, everyone! I’m Aleyna Kayım, Blogger of Spoteurope, and I’m thrilled to share with you today my journey through my Erasmus Internship, a transformative experience that has left an indelible mark on me. Throughout this internship, I’ve had the opportunity to immerse myself in a world of new experiences, challenges, and growth, both personally and professionally. Join me as I delve into the details of this adventure and reflect on the profound impact it has had on my life.

New journey

In Ghent University (source: private picture)

As a recently graduated occupational therapist participating in the Erasmus program, I had the privilege of undertaking a two-month internship at Ghent University’s Occupational Therapy Research Unit. This experience proved to be instructive, allowing me to delve into the processes of academic research within the field. During my time at the research unit, I actively engaged in diverse research activities, from literature reviews to data collection and analysis, working alongside experienced researchers. This opportunity not only deepened my understanding of occupational therapy principles but also equipped me with essential research skills, fostering a foundation for my future endeavors in the academic realm of occupational therapy.

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International Student Experience – Internship in Bulgaria

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Dear SPOT community,

Infront of the Ruse-sign (source: private picture)

We are Milena Horst, Raquel Müller, and Kira Hanßmann. We are currently studying occupational therapy in our third year at the ETOS (School of OT in Osnabrück) and University of Applied Sciences Osnabrück, in Germany.

For the past four weeks, we had the opportunity to get an insight of OT in Bulgaria, specifically in Ruse.

In the following we are going to tell you about our internship and further experiences we had.

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Two very special internships in the Netherlands!

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Hello everyone,

My name is Evelien Spoormakers and I am an occupational therapy student at Zuyd Hogeschool in the Netherlands. I’m writing this blog because I want to tell you something about the internships I’ve done and the experiences I gained there, because there are not the most obvious internships for an OT student. That’s what made this internships so interesting! First I will shortly tell you something about my first internship in the disabled care. I started this internship in September 2019.

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My occupational therapy perspective on my Nepal trip

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Introduction

Hi all,

My name is Silvester and I am in the second year of the bachelor’s program in Occupational Therapy at Zuyd University of Applied Sciences. Besides studying, I really enjoy doing things together with friends, like playing sports, taking walks or making music.

In this blog, I will tell you about my experiences in Nepal. I hope you find it entertaining! 🙂

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Overcoming obstacles related to placement

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Introduction

Hi everyone!

It is nice writting to you, once again, and this month I have something more ‘personal’ that I want to share with you.

During the past month, I have been reflecting a lot on my previous placements for an assignment that is due 3 weeks from now and I realized that I have experienced some difficulties during these placements which I would love to share with you.

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An unforgetable heartwarming experience at São Miguel

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Hello fellow OT students,

My name is Ana Gaspar and I am currently waiting to start my fourth and last year as an occupational therapy student in Escola Superior de Saúde de Leiria, Portugal. The past three years of my studies have been quite a ride, let me break it down for you!

When I first discovered that I got in OT school, I had mixed feelings because it was not my first choice. I had always wanted to be a nurse mainly because my goal as a professional is to help people in need, but little did I know! When I got to learn more thoroughly about what OT is all about, I fell instantly in love with the profession and the thought of changing courses suddenly didn’t matter to me anymore.

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Patient Leadership: Both an OT’s and a patient’s perspective

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Thinking about Patient & Public Involvement and Patient Leadership as an Occupation

Hello, my name is Anya de Iongh and I’m a first year OT MSc student at the University of East Anglia in Norfolk, UK. I became inspired to study OT after experiencing illness myself which led to getting involved in patient partnership and leadership.

https://eshcru.com/ppi/

I want to talk about patient leadership, patient and public involvement and the patient voice for two reasons. Firstly, because as OTs, we need to be partnering with these people in all of our work improving services and designing research as well as creating policy. But also for the people we support as clients, patients or service users, since getting involved in these activities can be seen as meaningful for them and supporting this idea is central to our role as OTs.

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A great journey in Madagascar thanks to PSIEE!

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But first, what is PSIEE?

https://psieeunaee.wixsite.com/psiee

PSIEE is the international solidarity project of occupational therapists’ students. It is a project created by the French National Association of OT students, the UNAEE. For the last 3 years, 5 or 6 second years OT students go to Madagascar for 1 month during the summer to practice occupational therapy. Last year, the team was composed of Morgane, Marie, Yann, Océane and Anne-Claire, a group of twenty years old OT students from all over France. 

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Is it still child’s play when a global pandemic comes around?!

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Getting to know Britt and the journey of her first internship

Hello I am Britt Hoofwijk, a third year occupational therapy student, studying in the Netherlands at the university of Zuyd University of Applied Sciences in Heerlen. I have just started my first ever internship this year, which is partly located at an elementary school and partly at an OT-clinic for kids. My tasks included that I stimulate the overall development of the children during their regular school duties. Using the classic child-OT in the clinic and with a project called ‘Beweeg me te leren’ on the elementary school. ‘Beweeg me te leren’ is translated to ‘Move me to learn’. This project was made by two former teachers of mine, Jolien van Houten and Rianne Jansens, as well as by the director of all primary schools: Ron Crutzen. And last but not least my supervisor Esther Dibbets – van de Bool who is also the owner of the clinic where I have my internship.

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Student news: OT school in Bremen & Hand Therapy Project.

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Our school ‘Fachschule für Ergotherapie’ is the only school for Occupational Therapy in Bremen. It was founded in 2015 and is located in the northern part of Bremen.

In 2018, it got the WFOT approval and became a member of ENOTHE. We have about sixty students in three classes and four teachers as well as several guest lecturers.

To the school administration it is very important that we work and learn practically; which means that we work in projects for example in elementary schools, homes for the elderly and those with mental health conditions.

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Rehabilitation Centre in Switzerland: An OT perspective!

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Introduction…

Jelena, 23 years old, studies Occupational Therapy (grade 4) at ZUYD Hogeschool in Heerlen. She and a friend of hers, Lea Gnida, went to Switzerland to do an internship. They were both looking very forward to their trip to Switzerland. They worked as interns in a rehabilitation centre in Valens, a small village on top of a mountain with a height of about 1000 meters. The rehabilitation centre was located in a large building where a lot of people from different backgrounds are working. In this centre work a lot of different specialized teams such as: occupational therapists, physiotherapists, creative therapists, music therapists, equine therapists, speech therapists, nurses, and doctors. The first three days of the internship were mainly to get to know the rehabilitation centre and to get familiar with their treatment plans. After those three days Jelena was made fully responsible for her own clients and work. Especially in the beginning she found this very difficult. She was not used to work all by herself because she had never been put in a situation like this during her previous internships.

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Guest blog experience: OT internship in Linköping, Sweden

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About me

My name is Jurn Veenstra, I am a 24-year old Occupational Therapy student. I have started my 4th semester of my education at Zuyd Hogeschool in Heerlen. I had the opportunity to do an internship abroad and learn more about the world of Occupational Therapy (OT). I made the decision to go to Sweden’s 6th largest city, Linköping. I have lived there from the beginning of August till 11 December. In Linköping I did an internship at a university hospital. During this period, I was working together at the hospital with a multi-disciplinary team.

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