Careers in occupational therapy
Occupational therapy is a profession concerned with promoting health and wellbeing through occupation.
We employ approximately 90 occupational therapists within our service. Occupational therapists are represented across all levels, from Grade 1 roles in our specialist entry level program through to senior clinicians, chief occupational therapists, team leaders and managers.
What we do
Our occupational therapists provide discipline-specific services in addition to general mental health care. Our services are delivered based on thorough assessment and joint planning with consumers to establish their goals and intervention needs. We deliver care embedded within occupational therapy frameworks as well as the Victorian recovery model and best practise guidelines.
The primary goal of occupational therapy is to enable people to participate in the activities of everyday life. Occupational therapists achieve this outcome by enabling people to do activities that will enhance their ability to participate or by modifying the environment to better support participation. This might include:
- Looking after themselves - supporting and enhancing self-care, domestic task and safety
- Participating in and enjoying activities of daily life - enable access and engagement to meaningful leisure activity.
- Accessing the community - enabling capacity to belong to the community through meaningful occupation and social contact or supporting access through use of public transport or driving
- Goal setting and motivation - provide opportunities to choose start and complete meaningful attainable goals, through supported process
- Contributing to social and economic communities - through supporting consumers to maintain or commence new roles including parenting, study, volunteering and employment
- Understanding the impact of illness on the ability to participate - holistic understanding of motor, sensory and process skills in ability to start, continue and complete tasks and how these may be overcome.
Areas of expertise
Our occupational therapists specialise in the following four practice areas:
- Sensory modulation
Supporting consumers to understand their sensory preferences and develop strategies to self manage their well being in everyday life, as well as times of high stress or distress - Group work
Group work is a key intervention provided by the multidisciplinary teams in all our services and programs - Vocation
Supporting consumers to discover and participate in activities and roles that provide meaning and purpose such as employment, studying, volunteering, and recreation - Driving
Promoting safe driving, education about consumer driver responsibilities, fitness to drive and providing specialist driver assessments when needed. Our occupational therapy has developed Guidelines for Mental Health Professionals to assist consumers with safe driving.
Our occupational therapists engage enthusiastically in the development and delivery of these practice areas, supported by peers and with supervision. Our occupational therapists endeavours to progress the evidence base for each of these practice areas through involvement in quality improvement initiatives and research.
Research
Our occupational therapy service has developed strong relationships with local universities and supports undergraduate clinical placements, research and training. We have a lead research Occupational Therapy position in partnership with Deakin University, and have developed a clear research strategy which encourages clinicians to engage in research and knowledge translation activities. Read more about our mental health occupational therapy research.
Supports
Our occupational therapists are supported to:
- Attend to their professional development needs, with comprehensive training opportunities available both internally and via external organisations
- Access genuine support to extend their career into leadership, management, education or research pathways
- Engage in regular supervision with experienced clinicians
- Attend regular occupational therapy meetings including journal review, in-service education and peer support
Entry Level Program
We offer an entry level program to new graduates that provides a supported introduction to occupational therapy in mental health, with a focus on skill development. Entry level occupational therapists in the program receive supervision and guidance from a senior occupational therapist, and is connected with a vibrant, dynamic peer group of occupational therapists working across our service.
Our entry level positions are fixed term, for 24 months. The entry level program provides a structure of education, supervision and clinical experience that aims at developing participants to be ready for Grade 2 clinical positions.
Recruitment requirements
All occupational therapists employed with us must be registered with the Australian Health Practitioners Regulation Agency (AHPRA).
Find out current vacancies on the Royal Melbourne Hospital's online recruitment system.
For more information, contact the Senior Occupational Therapy Advisor.