cOnnecT with Ricardo Nuno

What made you choose OT as your career?

When I was five years old, a family friend who was blind and had developmental delays, sat me down and taught me to read brail.  I was so fascinated by their ability to do something that no one else in the room could do.  I believe this stuck with me, and I have always wanted to work with individuals where their Abilities are the focus, not their disability.

Where have you worked over your career?

I originally started working as a Rehab Assistant in an OT clinic, and soon after started JR Rehab Services Inc. while attending OT school.  JR Rehab Services Inc. has been my primary career, although I did work at Royal Columbian Hospital in Acute Neurology immediately after graduation.  Working in a hospital provided me with paramount OT skills. Working as a team member in hospital definitely provides you with appreciation of the various perspectives and agendas of other health care workers.

What has been your most interesting job?

Working in private practice has been the most interesting experience, as there is a greater mandate to balance relationships between, clients, customers and other allied health workers.  

What do you find most challenging about working as an OT?

It still surprises me that OT remains a health profession that is the least recognized by the general population and health insurers.  The fact that we are still lobbying insurance providers to include OT as part of extended health care policies is a challenge, however CAOT is making great headway. 

You have been a volunteer for CAOT-BC for a long time. Why do you do it? What is your personal philosophy about volunteering and giving back to the profession?

I have been volunteering for the OT profession, since the day I graduated.  OT has given me a great career and I am a true believer in “paying back and forward”. Volunteering allows me to stay connected with a wide variety of colleagues, and it keeps me up to date on current events related to OT.  Busy work schedules can easily take over our lives, and we need to be reminded that there is a whole world of OT outside of our own day-to-day practices.  Volunteering gives me that opportunity.

Tell me about someone who has influenced your OT practice?

I was very fortunate to work with a group of OT’s who greatly influenced the evolution of community based private practice OT over the past 17 years.  One of those OTs was Min Kyi, the FCE guru. He  taught me that OT can be a supported by science and research, and it is this foundation which gains enormous respect within the medical – legal realm of our profession.  It gives an OT great confidence when being challenged by other medical specialists, or when being cross-examined in court.

What would you tell someone who is thinking about becoming an OT?

The OT profession is very diverse, and offers a far greater variety of career options than other allied health professions.  As an OT, your career can never get boring.  

What do you think will change/shape practice over the next five years?

Our Canadian Health Care is no doubt strained, and I believe there will be a greater demand for OT’s within community care programs.  Our population is aging rapidly, and Canada will need to replicate foreign health care systems, where supporting and keeping seniors at home for as long as possible is preferred to hospital and long term care admissions. OTs are best suited to sustain “healthy at home” seniors programs, where comprehensive assessment of daily function is a primary determinant of optimal care planning.

What do you do when you aren't working or volunteering?

Currently I am completing a MBA , specializing in Health Care.  Although not as perplexing as studying all the cranial nerves for an OT neuro-anatomy exam, the application of my skills as an OT in private practice has been the greatest asset in this latest scholastic endeavour.