3rd Caucasian Occupational Therapy Conference
8 December, 2016
The 3rd Caucasian Occupational Therapy Conference was opened at Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University (TSU) on December 8. The two-day conference is dedicated to the 10th anniversary of introducing occupational therapy courses at TSU. The problems persisting in Georgia in this sphere as well as the perspectives of developing occupational therapy were discussed during the first day of the event.
“Since 2006, TSU has been the only university in Georgia that prepares occupational therapy students. Presently, 20 students are attending the occupational therapy program and this figure is insufficient to meet current requirements in Georgia. It is basically caused by scarce information about occupational therapy in our country. Noteworthy that in 2016 the World Federation of Occupational Therapists acknowledged TSU bachelor’s degree program in occupational therapy as the higher education program that meets the standards developed by the World Federation,” Deputy Rector of TSU, Mikheil Chkhenkeli said. He also noted that according to the current statistical data, all graduates of BA program in occupational therapy find jobs, and frequently several jobs, immediately upon graduation. Despite high employment rates and quite normal salaries, number of students enrolled in the program is very small.
Dean of the TSU Faculty of Medicine, Aleksandre Tsiskaridze said: “Occupational therapy is one of the components of the rehabilitation process involving more socialization, more integration of patients into the society. We have been preparing BA students in this direction for already 10 years.”
Salvador Simo Algado, Professor at the University of Vic, read a paper on a topic “Professional identity of occupational therapists: integrating education, research and intervention.” “The today’s conference is very important as occupational therapists from Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan are attending it; they will work on various issues and share experience with each other,” he said.
Today there are only 30 persons in Georgia holding diplomas in occupational therapy. It means that there are only 8 occupational therapists per 1 million people. To compare with other countries – in Lithuania there are 10 occupational therapists per 1000 residents; in Norway – 80 occupational therapists per 1000 residents.
Occupational therapists working in Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, as well as invited guests from Spain and Holland are participating in the conference. Representatives of local and international governmental and non-governmental organizations are also attending the conference.
The key goal of the conference is to assess the ten-year experience of offering occupational therapy courses along with analyzing the experience of various countries; initiating international projects and raising awareness about occupational therapy in the region.
“Since 2006, TSU has been the only university in Georgia that prepares occupational therapy students. Presently, 20 students are attending the occupational therapy program and this figure is insufficient to meet current requirements in Georgia. It is basically caused by scarce information about occupational therapy in our country. Noteworthy that in 2016 the World Federation of Occupational Therapists acknowledged TSU bachelor’s degree program in occupational therapy as the higher education program that meets the standards developed by the World Federation,” Deputy Rector of TSU, Mikheil Chkhenkeli said. He also noted that according to the current statistical data, all graduates of BA program in occupational therapy find jobs, and frequently several jobs, immediately upon graduation. Despite high employment rates and quite normal salaries, number of students enrolled in the program is very small.
Dean of the TSU Faculty of Medicine, Aleksandre Tsiskaridze said: “Occupational therapy is one of the components of the rehabilitation process involving more socialization, more integration of patients into the society. We have been preparing BA students in this direction for already 10 years.”
Salvador Simo Algado, Professor at the University of Vic, read a paper on a topic “Professional identity of occupational therapists: integrating education, research and intervention.” “The today’s conference is very important as occupational therapists from Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan are attending it; they will work on various issues and share experience with each other,” he said.
Today there are only 30 persons in Georgia holding diplomas in occupational therapy. It means that there are only 8 occupational therapists per 1 million people. To compare with other countries – in Lithuania there are 10 occupational therapists per 1000 residents; in Norway – 80 occupational therapists per 1000 residents.
Occupational therapists working in Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, as well as invited guests from Spain and Holland are participating in the conference. Representatives of local and international governmental and non-governmental organizations are also attending the conference.
The key goal of the conference is to assess the ten-year experience of offering occupational therapy courses along with analyzing the experience of various countries; initiating international projects and raising awareness about occupational therapy in the region.