UKZN OT Curriculum, preparing students for Community Practise
According to a quick internet search, there are 7 different Universities in South Africa that offer the Bachelor of Occupational Therapy Degree, with the University of KwaZulu Natal being the only one situated in KZN. Like most Health Sciences degrees, the Occupational Therapy Degree period of study is 4 years, with the students graduating with an Honors Degree. Occupational Therapy students are fortunate enough to be allocated to places to do Community Service for the year after completing their degree. That certainly takes a load off
A few weeks ago, I, a 4th-year occupational therapy student, also found myself having to apply for various possible placements for CommServe 2025, in case I pass of course. And yes, it could go either way. I suffer from a lot of things as a student, but ‘Dilulu’ isn’t one of them. I am not going to pretend like it's been a walk in the park and that I have this in the bag. It has been quite a struggle with honestly, more downs than ups. I have shed more tears for this degree than I have ever shed for anything, and probably acquired lifetime traumas along the way…. Sorry, my subconscious self took over there for a minute. What were we even talking about? Oh yeah, the Occupational Therapy Curriculum.
Okay, before we delve into the curriculum, can I just say just how much respect I have for this profession and the discipline? According to multiple conversations I have had with students (both within the Occupational Therapy Discipline and in other Disciplines), a lot report that they feel that the Occupational Therapy discipline is arguably one of the most hard-working disciplines in the UKZN Westville Campus. Inkosi impela baqinisile uma bethi “le Degree akuyona eyolamthumthu ripped arm emoji”(it is not for the weak or faint-hearted.
From the very first step in the first year, being introduced to 4 Anatomy modules, after not having gone any further than human reproduction in the 12th grade, that is quite a leap. But before I go any further, I have to be honest.
In the topic of the UKZN OT curriculum preparing students for practice, I don’t think I'm part of the best generation to comment accurately on that topic. As part of the COVID-19 student generation, we probably did not experience the OT curriculum at its very best. As the pandemic was relatively new in 2021, everyone was still integrating into online learning. Almost every lecture and class was held online, including Anatomy spotters and ironically, Community Studies lectures. Get it? Community Studies lectures online, with students not able to visit the community they are training to serve rolling eyes emoji. So that’s how we began our journey, with online classes and online tests, robbing us of a true university experience.
Fast forward to the 2nd semester of the second year, where we were integrated back into normal university life. A huge transition, from barely ever attending contact lectures to attending full-time. With no time to ease into it, we were thrown into the deep end.
I recently took a look at a research study by Thavanesi Gurayah (2022), which aimed “to explore facilitators and barriers to completing an occupational therapy degree at the University of KwaZulu-Natal” by interviewing 7 graduates from the Class of 2015. According to said study, the graduates interviewed found the OT curriculum “academically challenging”. However, the study concluded by saying that the participants reported that the experience gave them the “opportunity for personal growth.”
I am afraid to report, that I do not share the sentiment. Personal growth, at what time? Under the UKZN OT curriculum, the students are overworked, with barely any chance to recover from one block to another. As for preparing students for working in the community level, it is hard to say given that we were not exposed to working in/with actual communities until the very last year, and for a 6-week block, like that’s supposed to be enough?
I have to be honest, I envy the Class of 2015. From the study, they seem like they have positive remarks to make about The UKZN OT curriculum. I wish I could also say despite all the rollercoasters, I found a way, an opportunity for “personal growth”. I wish I could talk about anything other than the traumas, self-doubt, and emotional scars I have acquired under this discipline. I don’t know. Maybe someday I might look back and find great things to say about the experience here. Maybe someday, but that day is not today.
REFERENCES
Thavanesi Gurayah. (2022). An Exploration of the Facilitating Factors in Completing an Undergraduate Occupational Therapy Degree at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Africa Education Review, 19(3), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/18146627.2023.2278050