Occupational Therapy through the Eras

I found the fact that men and women could become occupational therapists within two weeks in the 1940s during the war to be very interesting.  Seeing as we have already been in class for 5 weeks I can’t imagine already being an occupational therapist by now.  It makes me wonder about the level of training they had and how that affected clients and those they worked with.  Then moving on into the 1950s, the career of being an occupational therapy assistant was created.  It seems that as the career of occupational therapy became more developed, the demands of the occupation increased as well.  This in turn must have created a need for more help in the field, therefore occupational therapy assistants came about during this time.  Lastly hearing about the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1980 stuck out to me.  My group had the 1960s so we mentioned the development of Medicare.  It was interesting to hear about this act and then the development of Medicare Part B which classifies OT as a qualifying service and identifies outpatient rehab facilities.  Hearing of this Act in 1980 but reflecting on the Act we covered in 1960 really tied things together.  Hearing and seeing how occupational therapy has changed throughout the years and continues to grow from its original foundation lead to engaging presentations that affected my knowledge of the history of my future profession.