UNE occupational therapy students learn new perspectives in Morocco

A group of students and faculty from the University of New England’s Master of Science in Occupational Therapy (M.S.O.T.) program spent 10 days at the University’s campus in Tangier, Morocco, in January, as they completed clinical activities and attended the sixth annual Occupational Therapy Association of Morocco Conference (OTAM).

Three second-year M.S.O.T. students attended the trip, as did program director Kris Winston, Ph.D., OTR/L, FAOTA. This was the Occupational Therapy (OT) program’s fourth such trip to Morocco to participate in the OTAM conference, which this year was held in the city of Kenitra.

The annual trip offers students and faculty an opportunity to meet OT practitioners from around the globe, while also having the opportunity to connect with OT practitioners in Morocco, where OT is a new profession compared to the U.S., where the profession is over 100 years old. 

Students also have the opportunity to explore a variety of daily occupations through a new cultural lens and expand their perspectives on engagement in daily occupations. At the conference, UNE students participated in a panel with Moroccan OT students to discuss methods for handling stress, both as students and while on clinical placements from the two cultural perspectives. 

In Tangier, the group spent time at the Fraternity Association for People with Disabilities, a local school for children with developmental delays, commonly known as “The Brotherhood.” There, the students provided activities and spent time playing with children. Winston noted that play is the primary occupation of children.

Michelle Teodoro (M.S.O.T., ’24) said visiting The Brotherhood was one of her favorite parts of the trip.

“We had the opportunity to work with individuals with physical and intellectual disabilities,” Teodoro said. “We danced together and worked on fine motor skills through crafting, and one of the crafts we did together was one of the crafts we did during our first semester at UNE in our Occupational Analysis class. It was an awesome full circle moment.”

Winston remarked that such community immersions are important in forming well-rounded occupational therapy practitioners.

“As future OT practitioners, it is vitally important to understand the context and environment in which people from various backgrounds and cultures engage in occupation,” Winston remarked. In order to immerse in the daily occupations experienced in Morocco, the group explored local cultural sites with historical guides.”

Highlights of this immersion for the students included exploring the Medina, the cultural city center of Tangier, and the city of Asilah; learning to barter; eating traditional Moroccan foods; and practicing speaking in Arabic to communicate in restaurants and shops. The students also took a class to learn how to cook with a tagine and to make bread cooked in a communal oven.