cOnnecT with Shalini Das

Interview with Shalini Das, recipient of the Surrey Women in Business Award.

What led you to open Symbiosis Pediatric Therapy Inc?

We came to Canada in 2008. Initially I was working with a different company in Vancouver, and I realized we had clients who were travelling all the way in from Surrey and Abbotsford to Vancouver to get therapy services. They were getting so tired and parents were frustrated. At that time, my husband and I were also looking for a house, so we thought ‘why don’t we find a house on this side of the river and start something here?’, as there were hardly any pediatric private practices in this area. So that’s how Symbiosis started! We started very small and it has grown in the past ten years to three different locations now.

Why did you choose occupational therapy as a career?

I actually stepped into occupational therapy accidentally. I had no plans of becoming an OT when I was still in school but then I took a course that was a mix of occupational therapy and physiotherapy. I started talking to my professors about occupational therapy and realized there is such a diverse range of work we could be doing. That really pulled me to the career and it has just grown on from there. Twenty years, no regrets!

What is your personal philosophy on business ownership and leadership?

I think as a business owner you have to wear a lot of hats. You are still an OT with your clients, but you have to be ready to mentor and lead your staff, as well as see their strengths and areas they need to work on. As a leader you have to be willing to take that into consideration and give your staff room to grow in their particular area of interest. As well, you have to look at what opportunities there are and find the service gaps. For example, we found that very few people were actually doing public education. It’s not a part of growing the business financially, but to address this need, we wanted to get information out to parents. We have put on workshops and free talks for parents about autism, down syndrome, and special needs, whatever the need is out there. To be on the look for what are the gaps and what are the services able to fill those gaps, while also making sure your team is prepared is part of my philosophy.

What has surprised you most about working as an OT?

I find the different kind of work you can do as an OT really interesting. Even though I’ve worked mostly in pediatrics, through my experience with talking to other OTs, whether they are working with elderly or adults, from toddlers to infants, all the ranges that you can work with is what has surprised me and what I find really interesting about occupational therapy. Also, the different facilities you can work in - it doesn’t have to be just acute, post-acute, or rehabilitation, you could be working in prisons, dementia centres, pediatric clinics, or ICUs. All of the diversity in the profession is really interesting to see.

What is your favourite thing about CAOT-BC?

There are quite a few things I like about CAOT-BC, but two specific things are 1) the Advisory Committee is always out there promoting occupational therapy as a profession. When you see the CAOT-BC blog or the news you know CAOT-BC is out there talking to people about OT, meeting with MLAs and MPs. They don’t have to do that; many of them are volunteers doing this for the profession and I really appreciate that. 2) All of the Practice Networks, like the Pediatric Practice Network, Private Practice Business Network, and adults in different categories. You get to network with different people who are in the same profession and area as you and learn so much from them. I really like that CAOT-BC has stepped up and made sure the Practice Networks are happening regularly. I also really appreciate all of the volunteers who have devoted their time to lead the Practice Networks.

Tell me about someone who has influenced your occupational therapy practice?

There are so many people out there, all the kids and families that I work with, but the one person that stands out was in my second year as an OT student when we had our placement. I was working in an orthopedic hospital that my college was attached to and we had this bilateral amputee, upper limbs. He was a teacher in a rural village, where in those years they still had a chalk board and chalk he had to hold. He was in tears saying “I can’t work if I can’t hold the chalk” and “I don’t know how to do anything else, I can’t be a farmer back in my village, I am a teacher.” We worked with him to get the prothesis for both sides. In those times we didn’t have all of the high end prothesis, it was still the old fashioned simple hands and hooks. Then we trained him to hold the chalk. It was so amazing to see him writing with chalk on our boards in our class room. That is something I can never forget. We changed his life. He came to us so disappointed as he was a working adult with a family who depended on him and he was so disappointed he had an accident that he couldn’t go back to his profession. But to be able to give him that was amazing. I will never forget his face when he was able to write. He was so thankful to us, but more than that, we were to thankful to him to have this opportunity to learn and see first-hand how OT can make a difference to someone’s life. He is one person I will never forget.

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

I think the biggest thing is how much technology is coming into practice. We see there are more apps, people are using iPads and phones. On the positive side, how can we use technology to help in our therapy, how can we integrate that? There is also the downside to technology. You have so many kids with iPads and parents are worried about screen time; how do we develop a balance? I think over the next few years more and more technology will come in and we need to figure out how to best use that with whatever population we are working with. Another way technology will shape practice is in remote areas. In a lot of professions people are using Skype to provide services. Recently in BC and in Canada we have been hearing about telehealth services. We haven’t done that in pediatrics yet, at least not at Symbiosis. I wonder how over the next five years that will change and if we can work with parents over Skype to provide telehealth services, for example teaching strategies, especially in the rural areas.

What would you tell someone who is becoming an OT?

I would say welcome to the profession! It’s a huge, diverse profession. I would ask them to keep an open mind. When new grads come out in the job market the learning curve is very steep, and I would tell them don’t be scared of that. Most people are very willing to give new grads the time to get into the work and take it slow. Don’t get frustrated when you get out in the field and you find so many challenges, there will be a lot of people out there to help. Also, don’t be afraid to ask for help. In pediatrics, it could be challenging in the beginning and the learning curve is quite steep, but once you get there it’s so much fun! Eventually you’ll get there. Keep and open mind and don’t give up!

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

I love to read. I also have two kids, 14 and 7 years old, so I spend a lot of time with them. I was class mom for one of them last year and have been volunteering at school a lot. For my older one’s high school I did a career presentation about OT, spreading the word out there. As well, I like to garden and hike, enjoying the beautiful outdoors when we have the sunshine!

Interview by Meredith Blinkhorn, fieldwork student with CAOT-BC. 

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