With October being Occupational Therapist Month, we celebrate the vital contributions of the profession. Occupational Therapists (OTs) make significant impacts on patients’ lives by assessing and providing personalized services to help with activities of daily living. OT, Sabrina Privé has been working at The Neuro for over six years and was driven by the innovative side of the profession at an early age, following an injury as a young athlete.Ìý
"OTs have this ability of being creative, because activities of daily living can be so different depending on the culture and the person," she says.Ìý
What Privé loves the most about her profession is the connections built with patients.ÌýÌý
"You're really an agent of change, and of support to make sure that through what patients experience, they're not alone and there's solutions," she explains.Ìý
One of Privé’s proudest moments was when she started teaching at Ï㽶ÊÓƵ last winter and was asked to recreate with a colleague, a dysphagia class on the condition consisting of difficulty swallowing which can sometimes be painful,Ìý
Ìýand became a lecturer in charge of creating course material.Ìý
Ìý"Since I've been working, my mission was always to give back, because I was given so much when I was a student. So every time I have a student, I want to make sure that they get the best experience I can give them," she says. Privé will be continuing her teaching journey, as she was asked to give the class again in 2025.Ìý
OT excellency was highlighted this summer with the Ï㽶ÊÓƵ Health Centre winning the SPOT Community Teaching Award of Excellence. The award was given to the group of clinicians in celebration of the high quality of education and training they offer.Ìý
"Because of our multi-disciplinary team, and the fact that we're a teaching hospital, everyone is comfortable asking questions at all levels, and I think that makes our students and us very at ease to introduce new topics and to also push them to challenge themselves. I love learning—it’s why I love this place," she explains.ÌýÌý
Privé highlights the power of teamwork.Ìý
"It's amazing that when you're faced with difficulty, someone else probably has the answer, and if they don't have the answer, at least there's the empathy of finding the answer. Let's find it together," she says.Ìý
