Monday, December 21, 2009

New website for OT's to connect internationally: OT Forum

Hello all,

Here is a link to a new site I recently heard about: http://www.occupationaltherapyforum.com/

The site aims to connect OT's across the globe. Whether you are an experienced OT or merely share an interest in OT, everyone is welcome to register.

You can post messages, as well as create new topics for discussion.

For detailed information on how to post go to the FAQ tab on the main page.

I already created a topic for OT in the Middle East! :-)

If anyone knows of more sites like this, please post a message reply to this posting with the links!

These sites are only good if people actively participate with appropriate discussions....Maybe you think you don't have any questions to post, but perhaps you are the one that has answers for someone else! So, post away...

Laura



Thursday, December 10, 2009

1st Saudi Arabian OT Conference April 2010


Hello all,

Just an update on the conference...there is now an updated website: http://www.ot-ksa.com/ with full details on the program , speakers, registration and accommodations etc.

Best wishes for all involved in the conference. I hope it is a success!

Laura



Tuesday, October 6, 2009

October is Sensory Awareness Month


Throughout the US, Canada and England the month of October is Sensory Awareness Month. This is a time to raise awareness regarding sensory integration/sensory processing disorders within your community.

As continuing education is limited regarding this topic in the region, I thought I would share another e-learning course which is provided by the SPD (Sensory Processing Disorder) Foundation:

E-course: "MAKING SENSE OF SENSORY PROCESSING DISORDER"

Educate yourself by reading about sensory issues. Many books can be purchased online.

See the book list on the SPD website: http://www.spdfoundation.net/books.html, which links you to purchase these books through Amazon.

See the book list on the S.I. Focus website: https://www.viaemanager.com/products.aspx?mid=1295

Order the S.I. Focus international magazine at: https://www.viaemanager.com/products.aspx?mid=1295


Laura


Monday, September 28, 2009

“From Creighton to Cairo”


By: Angela Schroeder

Although six weeks have managed to disappear from my student planner since
my arrival in Egypt, and my Arabic is still deficient (if not nonexistent
altogether), everyday I am obtaining the occupational therapy skills never
available in my numerous textbooks; and that is exactly why I am here.
However, I do hope to broaden my language skills, at least beyond *'shokrun'
(thanks)!*

Who: My name is Angela Schroeder and I am currently enrolled at
Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska, USA, completing my final course
requirements for the Doctor of Occupational Therapy (OTD) degree. Creighton
University
's OTD curriculum involves an Entry-Level Professional Rotation

course which offers students the opportunity to combine didactic coursework
with a personal concentration, my own being an interest in international OT
delivery and curriculum development.

What: The purpose of my professional mission statement is to express
knowledge, creativity and clinical skills while continually evolve
academically and apply innovative techniques at an international site, in
order to achieve my highest potential as a future occupational therapy
practitioner. The learning objectives constructed for this rotation are
specific to my site and areas of interest, and evidenced through designated
learning activities. My learning activities focus on the implementation of
OT services

In addition to my clinical experience, I am also involved in a research
course aimed to highlight the gaps in the body of OT knowledge. The
critically appraised topic I have selected focuses on the preparedness of
students in the health field to administer care to a diverse caseload. By
broadening the scope beyond OT, I hope to illuminate the necessity of
cultural awareness in all practices of health. My question is as follows:
What is the effectiveness of inclusion of a culture course in health
professions education in preparing graduates to treat patients from a
variety of nationalities and/or cultures?

Where: I am completing my professional rotation at the Learning Resource
Center
under the direction of Dr. Safy Zein, PT and Dr. Eman El-Sayed,

Paediatric Psychiatrist. I work with Farah Sabra, an OT from Lebanon, and am
awaiting the return of my intended supervisor, Moffat Makomo from Zimbabwe,
who should be my direct OT supervisor but was stalled coming back because of
issues with his work visa.

The Learning Resource Center (LRC) is a diagnostic and therapeutic center
that caters services to children and adolescents who may have learning
difficulties and/or behavior problems. LRC started operation in 1996 and
since fall 1997, they have maintained an OT program. The program was started
by a British OT, Susannah Barnes, and when she repatriated to England, it
was headed by Laura Efinger, OT from the USA, from 2003 to 2009. Since
then, LRC have merged the Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy and Vision
Therapy Departments into one Sensory & Motor Department headed by Dr. Safy
Zein, PT, and with coordinators for each section. Actually, in 1997, LRC
hosted 2 OTs from Connecticut, USA for 6 weeks to train staff on recognizing
OT needs for children referred for diagnosis and therapy.

Why: Why Egypt? Many of you readers know better than I that Egypt needs
OT(s)! As OT continues to advance in countries around the world, so also
should the profession be developed in Egypt- which I chose for the reality
that Egypt occupies only a handful of registered OT(s) and does not
currently offer an accredited OT education. To be able to progress in areas
of occupation, professional practice and leadership, Egypt must also keep
pace by providing both the occasion for learning opportunities and OT
employment. Permeating the boundaries to allow access for both practicing
therapists and students can create a future of global resources to protect
our profession while also addressing the need for therapy in this country.

When: The required sixteen week rotation that I am currently fulfilling
started August 16, 2009 and will conclude on December 5, 2009. Upon
returning to the states, the details of my rotation and research will be
presented in a plenary session, under the direction of occupational therapy
faculty, prior to graduation on December 18 and 19, 2009.

And if the following ten weeks prove to vanish as quickly as the first, and
even if I never have the chance to drink from the Nile, I certainly hope to
return someday.


Angela M Schroeder
Creighton University School
of Pharmacy and Health Professions
Doctor of Occupational Therapy 2009
e-mail: angelaschroeder@creighton.edu




Tuesday, September 22, 2009

OT International Day


WFOT Occupational Therapy International Day
on
October 27, 2009

The aim of OT International Day is to promote the mission and goals of occupational therapy.

Read more about it on the WFOT website:


Share your ideas for events to be held in Egypt and the region.




Monday, September 7, 2009

Saudi Arabia OT Conference in April, 2010


Best of luck to the OT's in Saudi Arabia in organizing this conference. Time flies by, as it has been almost 2 1/2 years since we had the First Regional OT Conference in the M.E. in Cairo! I can recall how much hard work was put into organizing this event...

As we all would like to see OT develop in the whole region, I am posting an announcement from the head of the scientific committee for the first OT conference in Saudi Arabia.


Laura



"Dear Colleague,


It is a great pleasure to inform you that King Abdulaziz Medical City in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will organize the 1st Regional Occupational Therapy Conference "A New Horizon in Occupational Therapy".

The conference will be held on 06 – 07 April 2010 at Marriot Hotel in Riyadh.

The themes of the symposium are:
1. Advance assistive technologies in Occupational Therapy
2. The latest Occupational Therapy treatment approaches in neurology.
3. The latest Occupational Therapy treatment approaches in pediatrics.
4. Evidence base practice in Occupational Therapy.
5. The effective ways in promoting Occupational Therapy to medical professionals.

You are hereby invited to participate in the scientific program of this symposium.

Please send details/abstracts of the subjects you would like to present along with a CV to the email address below.

Please acknowledge your desire to participate as soon as possible.

Deadline of abstract submission is 30/9/09

For any additional information related to the presentation, please contact:

Rebecca Pegg
Clinical Specialist Occupational Therapy
Rehabilitation Department
Secretary,
1st Occupational Therapy Conference 2010
Tel: (01) 252-0088 ext. 11063
E-mail: saot.conference@gmail.com
Fax: (01) 252-0088 ext. 11269

Thank you.

Sincerely yours,

Chairman, Scientific Committee

________________________________
Dr. Fayz Al Shahry"





Sunday, August 23, 2009

The 6th European Course on Rehabilitation of the Hand in Turkey

Erasmus MC Vital Med

The 6th European course on rehabilitation of the hand will take place in Hotel La Blanche (*****) in Bodrum, Turkey from 11 to 15 October 2009. Among the lecturers are the well known "hand-group" of the Erasmus University in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and other lecturers such as A. Gülgönen, G. Gürsu, J.J. Dias, T. Duruöz and G. Yavuzer.

Besides specialists in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation the course is of interest to physiotherapists, occupational therapists, orthopaedists, orthopaedic and hand surgeons, and other health care professionals interested in the topic of hand rehabilitation.

The registration fee for this 5-day course (including 1 day sailing on a wooden Bodrum Gulet) is Euro 490/590/650, Assistant 250/350/400 incl. VAT. In La Blanche***** Congress Hotel rooms may be reserved from Euro 60 all inclusive. Early registration date is extended until 15th of August due to holidays in Europe.

To get to Bodrum you may either choose to use the national carrier Turkish Airlines, flying daily from Istanbul to Bodrum, or to use charter flights, from most European airports either directly to Bodrum, or to Izmir or Dalaman. The transfer price from Bodrum/Milas airport is Euro 80 for a return trip; prices for transfers from other airports are on request.

Further details such as the program, the registration and hotel reservation form can be found on our websitewww.vitalmedbodrum.com. For any questions do not hesitate to contact us at vitalmed@vitalmedbodrum.com or h.j.stam@erasmusmc.nl.

Yours sincerely,

HM Buyruk MD., PhD
ErasmusMC & VitalMed Rehabilitation Services.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

OT's interested in working in Egypt

Hello,

I have received several CV's from OT's interested in working in Egypt. I have in the past and will continue to be happy to post a brief summary of work experience from international OT's interested in working in Egypt. It is up to the organization within Egypt to contact and correspond with these OT's, as I am just providing the forum to connect people.

This is a brief summary from Niham, an OT from India:

"I am Nilam from India. I am looking for an opportunity to work overseas in management of disability services. I am trained and certified in Occupational Therapy from Mumbai University. 14 years of working experience has included skills in management of services and clinical practice. Currently I am volunteering in Papua New Guinea for National Wheelchair Service Network Project. During my service in PNG, I have been responsible to increase access of wheelchairs to the users through appropriate wheelchair service, and building the capacity of partner organizations and personnel’s. I also have experience in working in Community Based Rehabilitation Project in India using BOT (Built, Operate and Transfer) approach wherein I trained the family members of the disabled child as primary teacher in early detection and intervention and empowered grass root community workers. Previous experience included clinical skills in Occupational Therapy specialized in children with special needs.


Ability to set plans, mentor, implement, and manage the services. I have strong leadership skills and a proven ability to manage and motivate a team. I am sensitive to cross cultural skill and flexible to work with multidisciplinary group.

If there is any opportunity to suit my skills, please feel free to contact me through email: nd6_shinde@hotmail.com"




Saturday, June 13, 2009

Wellsphere Blogging Network

Hello,
I recently joined a blogging network called WELLSPHERE: http://www.wellsphere.com/ It is a health blogging network, which connects people interested in healthier living.
WELLSPHERE is a network of people who blog about various health topics (i.e. relationships, mind and body, stress management, weight loss, children's health, mental health, sports, disabilities and more!). Bloggers include a diverse group of people from parents of children with disabilities to medical professionals from Stanford, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Yale and other top Medical Schools.
Basically, the website re-posts what the bloggers have written in their own blogs and provides a central network for people to search for health information. Search key words, such as "occupational therapy," "traumatic brain injury", "autism", "depression", "dyslexia", "asthma" and "swine flu" and you will come up with a wealth of information! You can now search directly from this blog by going to the WELLSPERE widget "Health Knowledge Finder" located in the right hand column of this blog.
There are a few OT's on the site and I hope more will join, as the network is free and provides a good forum for people in the public to reach the information posted in these blogs.
I have also found some wonderful blogs by parents and people experiencing various obstacles in their lives, such as surviving cancer, living with a vision or hearing loss and parenting a child with Cerebral Palsy. Most of these bloggers find it very therapeutic to blog about their experiences.
I think there are plenty of Egyptians who have something to share with others about their experiences in relation to the health topics covered on WELLSPHERE! In the future, I would love to be able to post some links to Egyptian blogs!
To get you started, here are a couple of free blog start up links:
BLOGGER (free publishing tool from Google): www.blogger.com
WORD PRESS: www.wordpress.org
So, take a look and enjoy...
Laura

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

The Exceptional Training Center announces the Summer Training Courses in Arabic

The Exceptional Training Center announces the Summer Training Courses in Arabic, June-July 2009, conducted by eminent lecturers with post graduate studies and sound experience in the field of Special Educational Needs (SEN).

Participants will receive certificate accredited by the Ministry of Social Solidarity, the Egyptian Society for the Developing Skills of Children with Special Needs, and the Exceptional Training Center for passing the course and the certificate can be documented from any Foreign Affairs Office.

The 5 Courses are:

I- Occupational Therapy Course, June 27
th to July 5th, 2009

II- Specialized Language & Communication Development, 4
th to 9th July, 2009

III- Specific Learning Difficulties Course, 4
th to 9th July, 2009

IV- Autism Spectrum Disorders course, 12
th to 16th July, 2009

V- Behavior Modification Course, 13
th to 16th July, 2009

The courses will be held at the Lectures' Halls of the Exceptional Training Center (ETC)

Address: 9
th Al-Mokhtar St., Off Al-Gezeir St., New Maadi, Cairo, Egypt.

For more information, please contact the following numbers:
+202-27538022/+202-27538062 or mobile +2-0168809234

E-mail: etc.advance@gmail.com



Saturday, June 6, 2009

Ain Sham's University OT Program


Ain Sham's University in Cairo received the presidential signature for their OT curriculum and will hopefully start the program in October 2009. However, the university is still looking to hire an OT program director and further OT teaching staff.

For further details about the positions available and the program curriculum, please contact:
Ahmed El Khaky: aelkahky@hotmail.com

Thanks



Saturday, May 16, 2009

“Vargus International Hand Therapist Teaching Award”


Mary Nordlie, OTR/L CHT (Certified Hand Therapist) was kind enough to share with us some pictures and a brief summary of her experiences when she visited Egypt in November, 2008:


Mary speaking at the Egyptian Orthopaedic Association



"In January 2008, I was awarded the “Vargus International Hand Therapist Teaching Award” from the American Association For Hand Surgery (AAHS). The purpose of the award is to share experiences and exchange expertise in the area of Hand therapy with therapists and physicians around the world. This year the trip was to Egypt in November 2008 with Dr. Nash Naam from Southern Illinois University. Our goal was to share how the surgeon and hand therapist work as a cohesive team to provide the most effective treatment to patients with hand injuries and to encourage OTs and PTs in Egypt to specialize in this area.

We spoke to very receptive groups at numerous events including the 60th Egyptian Orthopedic
Association in Cairo, The Egyptian Association for Hand Surgery in Alexandria, a hospital’s surgical and therapy staff and the Cairo University’s Department of Physical Therapy. The University expressed interest learning more about Occupational Therapy as an area of study. In addition to lecturing, I was invited to see patients at the only clinic where there is a therapist (PT) working with a Hand Surgeon. That evening we shared experiences and I was able to provide treatment ideas for his patients from a different perspective. My 35+ years experience as an OT with 27 years as a Hand Therapist made it easy to find things to do! I have been in contact with several therapists in Egypt since I have left and am very pleased to see that there is a seed planted there for more growth in the field of “Hand Therapy.” Over all, I had a fabulous experience in Egypt and was pleased with the acceptance I had by the physicians, University faculty and therapists everywhere I went.





Mary with university staff.

I have been invited back to present at the Egyptian Association for Hand Surgery (EAHS) April 2010 and hope to present to a room filled with interested Occupational and Physical Therapists. Meanwhile, I would enjoy hearing from any therapists interested or whom may have questions related to the upper extremity and treatment."

Speaking with PT students at the university.


Consultation with PT and patient in clinic.


Consultation with PT and patient.


Mary Nordlie, MS, OTR/L CHT (Certified Hand Therapist)

Minneapolis, Minnesota, MN

MRNORDLIE@AOL.COM

Friday, April 10, 2009

More online resources...

Super Duper Handy Handouts:

FREE online, informational newsletters for teachers and parents.


http://www.superduperinc.com/Handouts/Handout.aspx

Register with name and email address and then you can download over 200 FREE excellent handouts. Topics cover OT and SLT related topics (i.e. how visual perceptual difficulties affect handwriting, all about drooling, what is sensory defensiveness, impact of self esteem and vocabulary development).  OT related handouts written by OT's...


Please share any of your resources for online downloads, as well!
Thanks

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Welcome to new staff at the LRC

WELCOME...




In picture: Moffat (OTR), Farah (OT), Hegazy (OT Implementer) and Laura (OT/L)




Moffat Makomo, OTR has recently joined the OT department at the Learning Resource Center. He joins us from Zimbabwe. We all would like to welcome him to Cairo and wish him well in his time spent in Egypt.

Friday, April 3, 2009

Online Digital Magazine

As I am always looking for free materials and new resources, I thought I would share this link and ask any others to share other similiar links in the 'comment' section.

www.yourtherapysource.com/magazine.html

It is an online resource for school based therapy and special needs publications for professional, home and school use. They have started a monthly online booklet with some brief articles, free downloads and new product information. Of course, much of the items you have to purchase, but they do have some free resources and a good variety of online download resources.

Check out the electronic books...since shipping/customs is always an issue here, these types of resources are always welcome!

Please share any other links, which have free resources...

Thanks,
Laura

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Staff OT Vacancy at the LRC

The Learning Resource Center (www.lrcegypt.org: under construction) in Maadi, Egypt has an OT staff position available. Managemnet is interested in hiring a full time female OT who speaks English/Arabic. At least two years experience in pediatrics is required.

Please contact Maha Helali, Managing Director, if interested in learning more about the post: mhelali@lrcegypt.org

Conference Update

I am happy to say that the educational conference "Road Map to Positive Behavior" was an overall success. All four OT's who presented (Angela, Fatima, Majdi and Farah) reported that the participants in their lectures were enthustiastic about the topics and they said that they learned a lot of new information. OT's, PT's, teachers, psychiatrists, psychologists and parents attended the variety of lectures (i.e. seating recommendations for physically challenged children, sensory integration and behavior in the classroom, and how to manage handwriting difficulties).

I hope that OT's continue to present at educational conferences in Cairo, such as the March conference that the ADVANCE and LRC present each year.

Many thanks to all that presented,
Laura

Friday, March 13, 2009

OTARG Congress 2009

The 6th Occupational Therapy Africa Regional Group Congress
September 28 to October 2, 2009
Mangochi, Malawi
"BUILDING BRIDGES WITHIN AND AROUND AFRICA"

Click here for more details:

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

CDOTE March Meeting

The next CDOTE meeting time has been changed from 4:30 pm to 2:30 pm on March 25th.

Monday, March 2, 2009

CDOTE Meeting
Date: Wednesday, March 25th
Time: 4:30 pm
Place: Learning Resource Center,
9 Road 278, New Maadi
2 5163965/67
New attendees are welcome...

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Educational Conference



The ADVANCE Society & the Learning Resource Center are glad to announce their ninth annual educational conference under the theme of: "Road Map to Positive Behavior," from 19th to 21st March, 2009, hosted by the British InternationalSchool in Cairo (BISC)


Our conference this year, "Road Map to Positive Behavior," will cover the following seven streams:

1. Parenting with Positive Behavior Support

2. Behavioral Disorders in Preschool Children

3. Effective Strategies for Behavioral Management in Schools

4. Emotional and Behavioral Challenges

5. Behaviors of Children with Sensory and/Or Motor Difficulties

6. Correlation between Communication Difficulties and Behavior

7. Health and Related Behaviors


We are happy to announce that we have 4 occupational therapists presenting this year. The following are abstracts of these workshops & lectures:


Importance of Seating for Enhancing Adaptive Function Cerebral Palsy (Presented in English)

Lecturer: Angela Pilski

Précis : Teachers and Therapists strive to provide excellent treatment and care, only to place the child into inadequate and often harmful Seating. Good Seating should act as an extension of Therapy and, combined with Sleep Positioning Systems, provide a 24 hour management of Spasticity. It also assists with autonomic functions such as breathing and maintains good health. It reduces absenteeism in educational programs, and allows the child to sit longer with less fatigue, improves functional use of extremities, and generally allows the child to make eye contact. Good seating improves the appearance of children to the point where it might make the difference between them attending mainstream school or not. There are many techniques and systems that have been developed to assist Therapists. Seating is, however, considered to be a specialty in Europe and North America, where specialized centers have Rehabilitation Engineers as well as Therapists who are skilled in a wide variety of modalities. Raising the awareness of the need for good Seating will hopefully provide comfort to a population who are often not able to speak for themselves. This lecture will demonstrate the need to sit well with the intrinsic spinal curves in place and address how that affects vision and upper extremity function, and how mobility affects learning.


Handwriting! I hate it! (Presented in English)

Lecturer: Farah Sabra

    Précis : “My daughter is very bright and inquisitive. Now they started teaching cursive at school and she hates it!”

    “I am a teacher and my 4 year old student throws markers away and cries when attempting to write”.

Handwriting is an integral part of every child’s school experience. Some students have difficulty in the production of legible handwriting. Negative behaviors might result from handwriting difficulties (i.e. crying, pulling away, tantrums, throwing writing utensils, withdrawal and giving up). Many factors contribute to illegible writing. It is necessary for teachers and parents to understand the factors underlying the skill of handwriting in order to address difficulties and decrease negative behaviors resulting from them. This workshop will address these issues by discussing the principal components necessary for developing writing skills and activities to develop these components.


Understanding Sensory Challenges (Presented in English)

Lecturer: Fatima Chehouri-Nasser

Précis : Professionals are often faced with the challenging question of whether the child's current behavioral problems are just tantrums or are related to other underlying sensory deficits. Occupational therapists are trained to make functional observations in all aspects of the child's life--at school, in the home environment, at play--as well as to detect and further assess sensory deficits. Scientific research in the area of sensory integration and sensory dysfunction has shown that children with sensory processing difficulties exhibit problems in behavior such as aggressiveness, inattention, distractibility and defiance. It is important to identify the difference so that the proper strategies can be used to decrease and/or eliminate the unwanted behaviors, thus increasing the chances for optimal learning.

Sensory Challenges (Presented in Arabic)

Presenter: Majdi Bzoor

Precis: How being hypersensitive and/or hyposensitive in relation to one's senses can affect a child's behavior.

For more information on how to register please call Yasser Salah at the Learning Resource Center, Tel: (+202) 25163965 or 67 or e-mail: lrcttc@yahoo.com

Thank you and I hope many can attend this conference.

Laura

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Updates

Sue Hartshorne has resigned her role as the WFOT Ambassador to the Egypt Project. However, Sue continues to work in Egypt and supports the development of OT in the country. Members of the CDOTE and the WFOT thank her for her contributions. The WFOT Executive Management Team have agreed that the ambassador position is now no longer required. We all look forward to progress continuing through the Committee to Develop OT in Egypt (CDOTE). The WFOT have reported that they will continue to monitor the situation via the Egypt Project led by Christiane Mentrup and look forward to being approached in the future with an application for an educational programme approval and hopefully ultimately membership of WFOT.

 

The next CDOTE Meeting:


Wednesday, February 25th at 4:30pm 

at the

 Learning Resource Center. 


New members: please contact myself or any of the CDOTE members if you would like to attend. 

 



Tuesday, February 10, 2009

OT Educational Programs Update

At this point, there are unfortunately no new developments with Ain Sham's and 6th October University starting their OT educational programs.

Arab OT Newsletter

I am collecting information regarding OT related topics from the OT's in Egypt, so if anyone would like to contribute to the next newsletter please let me know. These topics will be compiled with other entries from OT's in the Arab region. Topics may include, but are not limited to research, program development, job availabilities, conferences, workshops, treatment techniques etc.

Thanks,
Laura

Posting Comments....

Many times I receive comments on various entries, which are well worth reading and responding to; however, many times those commenting do not leave their contact information. I usually respond directly to that entry, but that will only go on the blog and not directly to the person who messaged.

So, please leave your contact information when posting comments!

Thanks,
Laura

Friday, January 9, 2009

OT Updates

As the new year begins, here are some last year updates on OT programs at El Agouza Rheumatology and Rehabilitation Centre and
6 October University, provided by Sue Hartshorne:

Update: El Agouza Rheumatology and Rehabilitation Centre

The last two months has seen the departure of two of our three professional members of the Occupational Therapy staff.

Pip Dow, occupational therapist, returned to New Zealand with her family. Pip established occupational therapy services for people with spinal cord injuries at the centre as well as extending her skills to provide services for people with upper limb amputation and providing scar management for those with traumatic injuries including burns. Pip also collaborated with Sue on developing a Back School Program which is now being implemented at the Centre.
Takako Miya, art therapist, returned to Japan. Miya has been a valuable member of staff, assisting to establish a handskills program, play gym and gait and balance clinic in the Children's Unit as well as initiating therapeutic craft groups and individual treatments for adult outpatient and inpatients.

Both Pip and Miya also contributed to staff training in the areas of manual handling, spinal cord injury (Pip) and toy making (Miya).

I miss their cheerful and positive personalities and friendship. Currently I am attempting to fill the gaps they left but this is a daunting task!

Susan Hartshorne
Occupational Therapist

Update: October 6 University

There is still no further information from the university about their plan for an occupational therapy programme.

Susan Hartshorne
Occupational Therapist
**************************************
The next CDOTE Meeting at the Learning Resource Center in Maadi, will be on Saturday, January 24th at 2pm.
**************************************
Happy New Year Wishes to All...and thanks to all who have supported OT development in Egypt over the past year.
Laura

Sunday, January 4, 2009


ARABIC OCCUPATIONALTHERAPISTS
REGIONAL GROUP
NEWSLETTER

The first newsletter, volume 1, has been completed and can be obtained by emailing the newsletter editor, Mustafa Ahmad El Qaisi at ceot_jor@yahoo.com

Message from the newsletter editor:

For a second of thought when you watch the surrounding events, you will believe and strongly
have faith that those moments of thoughts will be the foundations of the successful future.
This group was established in April 2007 as a result of the rigorous discussions among the occupational therapists working in the region (Palestine, Jordan, Egypt, and Lebanon) and the executive team of the WFOT in Cairo\Egypt, when they all met at the first regional occupational therapy conference in the middle east.

In this group, we aim to establish communication channels between the occupational therapists in the region and the world and to work as a connection with the WFOT and other OT organizations.

Putting the Arabic occupational therapists and the Arabic OT associations in the world map, telling the whole world that this region is an active and dynamic spot for practice, research and knowledge.

Through this initiation of e-actions. This humble work, is dedicated to all, and with the collaborated works and efforts this e-newsletter will be the first step and not the only to the successful life.

My congratulations to all
Mustafa Ahmad Al Qaisi
AOTRG Co-coordinator