Ang Therapist

Here’s a public service announcement for our colleagues in the Visayas region, especially for those who are interested in Diversity Job Search:

One of our Licensed Occupational Therapists currently working for Integra Rehab in Georgia is coming back to the Philippines next month for a vacation. We have invited her to conduct a talk and a little workshop for the OT community in Cebu. We would like to extend the invitation as well all interested Cebu based therapists (PT and OT). Here are the details of the said event:

Date: October 23, 2009 (Friday)
Time: 5:30PM
Venue: 2nd Flr. Diamond Hall, Golden Peak Hotel
Speaker: Shinette Alinas, OTR
Agenda/Topic:

1. What Shinette went through in order to qualify for a job in the US (IOTED application, NBCOT exam, NBCOT certificate, interview with Integra, POEA, etc) – 30 minutes
2. Shinette’s experience about being an OT in the US – 30 Minutes
3. Clinical workshop where Shinette can pass on a clinical skill to participants (wheelchair positioning..etc) – 30 minutes

This talk is open to everyone, and is FREE of charge. You may bring your OT/PT friends as well. We will just need your text confirmation so we can reserve seats for you, your students and your friends. You may send us your text confirmation at (63)9189090834. Just indicate your name for our records.

~ From Wawel Mercado

This news is for foreign-trained Occupational Therapists in the United States who are working on converting their H1-B visas (work visa) to permanent resident status (greencard).

According to Immspec.com (U.S. Immigration Forms Processing Service for Foreign Nurses and Pharmacists), a company that describes itself as “an in-house immigration administration support specialist”, the Visa Screening program is described as follows:

Visa screening program verifies that the education of an alien healthcare worker seeking job in the United States is equivalent to that of his/her US educated counter part

An overview of visa screen certification:

U.S. immigration law now requires that healthcare professionals (except physicians) qualified outside the United States complete a screening program in order to qualify for certain US working visas. VisaScreen™, also known as Visa Credentials Assessment, enables healthcare workers to meet this requirement by verifying and evaluating their credentials to ensure compliance with the government’s minimum eligibility standards.

VisaScreen™ program is administrated by the International Commission on Healthcare Professions (ICHP), which is a division of CGFNS (Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools). Candidates who successfully complete this program receive a VisaScreen™ Certificate. This certification authenticates that the foreign national’s education, license, training, and experience are comparable to that of a US healthcare professional.

Visa screen certificate can be presented to a consulate office, or in the case of Adjustment of Status, the Attorney General, as part of application process of an occupational visa. The visa screening program normally involves licensure verification, educational credentialing, English language proficiency testing (TOEFL, TSE, TWE), and a predictive exam (CGFNS Certificate).

The healthcare professionals who are required to obtain a VisaScreen™ Certificate before they can get an immigrant visa or permanent residence (“green card”) include occupational therapists, physical therapists, nurses, speech-language pathologists, medical technicians (or clinical laboratory technicians), medical technologists (or clinical laboratory scientists), and physician assistants. With respect to the green card process, the VisaScreen Certificate is not required for an employer to file an I-140 immigrant petition on behalf of a foreign national to sponsor them for lawful permanent residence (i.e. green card). However, once the I-140 immigrant petition is approved, the beneficiary and foreign national must obtain the VisaScreen Certificate before they can be issued an immigrant visa.

[ Click here to continue reading this article. ]

Dementia Care Professionals of America (DCPA), a division of the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America (AFA) is now accepting nominations for the Dementia Care Professional of the Year Award. Quoted below are the guidelines.

DCPA will award “Dementia Care Professional of the Year” to one individual each year who has demonstrated true professional excellence in care, compassionate performance above and beyond expectations, and a dedicated commitment to individuals with dementia. These accomplishments can be recent or accumulated throughout a career of dedicated service.

The professional may be nominated by peers, colleagues, employers, clients or client families. Individuals may be nominated by more than one person, since many people may seek to celebrate an impressive professional. Multiple nominations are welcome, but will not necessarily improve the likelihood of selection.

Nominees must be currently employed in a professional capacity as a provider of care or service to individuals with dementia or their families. Professionals may be from any industry or field of practice (i.e., personal care aides, activities therapists, program directors, support group leaders, administrators).

[ Click here to continue reading this article. ]

Today we are honored to feature another Filipino therapist on our website. Below is an article written and submitted to us by Iris Luanne De La Calzada, OTR/L who is based in Texas, USA.

COMPANY ASSETS: HOME-GROWN OCCUPATIONAL THERAPISTS WITH CLINICAL DOCTORATE DEGREES
By: Iris Luanne De La Calzada, OTR/L

Reviewing the literature of health professions related to workforce and market forces identified three key themes: changing demographics, cultural diversity, and a shrinking workforce whose members are not representative of the U.S. society. The changing U.S demographics predict an increasingly multicultural population that is aging, with a shrinking workforce, whose members will likely benefit from occupational therapy services (Coppard, Berthelette, Gaffney, Muir, Reitz, & Slater, 2009). The projected demand for an increased number of occupational therapists “who are more representative of the diverse global population who has a variety of skill levels” supports continuing the option to advance education to a doctorate level (Coppard, et al., 2009). The doctoral degree offers additional curricular content focusing on research skills, leadership, program and policy development, and advocacy, as well as “the doctoral experiential component with developing occupational therapists with advanced skills (those that are beyond a generalist level). There is also an increasing need for qualified occupational therapists as clinicians, faculty members, researchers, policy advocates, scientists, and innovative developers of services in urban and rural areas. However, research into the current U.S. workforce in occupational therapy reveals that the areas in dire need of education about the benefits of occupational therapy are in the healthcare facilities where the majority of the workforce is employed. A large percentage of this workforce is internationally trained therapists whose education levels are baccalaureate degrees that are deemed equivalent to an entry-level master’s degree. U.S. schools are not graduating enough occupational therapy students to address the need and this country will continue to recruit foreign-trained therapists internationally until this need is satisfied.

The key here is to educate the new recruits, especially internationally trained therapists, and new occupational therapy graduates about existing policies, the societal needs of this community, the current trends of practice, and to work together, growing professionally together while bringing in the special skills of both local and international training to advance the level of care for our communities through the creation of innovative programs and researching new possibilities of addressing our society’s needs.

Enhancing the education of working and practicing occupational therapists will better allow employers to recruit the practitioners of tomorrow who will serve our clients and profession well, ethically and professionally, and thus assist this country in addressing the severe shortage in the skilled workforce in this field.

Reference:
Coppard, B., Berthelette, M., Gaffney, D., Muir, S., Reitz, S.M., and Slater, D.Y. (2009). Why Continue Two Points of Entry Education for Occupational Therapists? OT Practice. March 9, 2009 Issue. 10-14.

About the Author
Iris Luanne De La Calzada is a Staff Occupational Therapist at Valley Regional Medical Center, a 200-bed acute medical hospital in Brownsville, TX. She was recently promoted to the position of Clinical Manager of the Therapeutic Services Department. She received her Bachelor of Science in Occupational Therapy from Cebu Velez College, Cebu City, Philippines in 2000.

Iris is a licensed OT in the Philippines. In 2004, she immigrated to the US, where she is an OTR in the states of Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas and New Jersey. She has wide and varied experience in adult and pediatric physical dysfunction both in the Philippines and in the United States. Her chosen areas of specialty is in upper extremity adult physical dysfunction and occupational rehabilitation. Her occupational balance are long drives in the country, travelling, networking, blogging and shopping.

We have heard and read in the news that U.S. President Obama is committed to enact a comprehensive health care reform this year. The recent American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) article titled “Is Health Care Reform Really That Important to Occupational Therapy?” provide OT practitioners with a summary.

Yes! Health care reform is working on a fast track through Congress. Changes happen every day with new bills, new ways to finance, and new ideas to save money. But every part of health care reform will affect you as an occupational therapy practitioner! And AOTA is your voice and guide in this battle.

Read more »

For physical therapists, you may visit the American Physical Therapist Association’s Advocacy and Government Affairs page for the latest news and update on the health care reform.