This year ENOTHE held their Annual Meeting in Oviedo, Spain. SPOTeurope was present, as every year since 2014, to represent the students’ voices of Europe. This time represented in person by Bruna, Megan, Angela, and Kira, we decided to give you, the SPOT community, a small insight into how our preparations for the 27th AM looked like. And of course to what these preparations lead to at the AM.
They began long before the event, around April with many meetings with ENOTHE and the board of SPOT, more specifically, Angela, the Student Board member, and the connection of these two platforms. Other preparations included organizing merchandise, planning the World OT Day video, and other Social Media posts and presentations. SPOTeurope was invited to give a student keynote speech, conduct a workshop directed at the students, and host a SPOT Pitch. Our outreach coordinator, Megan, got in touch with a group of students from Oviedo who were interested in organizing the student workshop with SPOT. From then on, we organized regular online meetings – getting to know each other, brainstorming ideas for the workshop, dividing tasks, and finalizing the schedule.
A few days before the AM, all four of us traveled to Oviedo. There we had the chance to meet in person with the OT students and we visited their university, the campus of Facultad Padre Ossó. Also before the start of the AM, our Student Board Member Angela had in-person meetings with ENOTHE for final preparations.
The student keynote speech given at the AM was delivered by two board members, Bruna and Kira, the president from Portugal and the event coordinator from Germany respectively. The topic in question was the role of OT students in higher education. To briefly describe it, insight was given into how that role can look according to research. To underline this, Bruna and Kira conducted a study with 89 OT students from 17 different European countries. The results showed, among other things, how
students themselves assess their role, how they have contributed to their university so far, and what ideas they have for occupational therapy students to fulfill this role. There was also a discussion on opportunities for students to get involved in advocacy, professional and non-profit organizations, as well as international projects, such as SPOTeurope!
The workshop mentioned previously was held for the students attending the AM with the topic: “Accessibility in public spaces- Asturias region, organized by our outreach, Megan, with the help of SPOT’s board and a group of students from Oviedo.
Around 160 students from many different countries in Europe and outside Europe, particularly from the USA, took part. The task given to the participants was to reflect and share ideas about a photo of public places in Asturias assigned to each group. We encouraged the students to be included in groups they hadn’t met yet to allow meetings, as well as gain different insights into so many cultures.
On the last day of the AM, there was a SPOT Pitch given by Angela, explaining SPOT’s platform, as well as the benefits of joining the SPOT community or the internal board.
This year’s ENOTHE AM in Oviedo was another great experience for us. Each board member present had their responsibilities and moments to take initiative. We met so many OT students, formed new collaborations with other European OTs, and met people that we only have seen online. We believe congresses are a very helpful way to achieve this, as well as gather information regarding education in OT. With this, not only did it help SPOTeurope grow as a platform, but us as (future) occupational therapists too, and for that we are very thankful to have experienced the 27th ENOTHE AM in Oviedo.
To include more insights on this topic, we also invited a couple of OT students to talk about their experiences during this congress.
If you would like to read more students’ Annual Meeting adventures, click on the link:
ENOTHE ANNUAL MEETING 2023 OVIEDO, MORE STUDENTS EXPERIENCES – SPOTeurope