When Paulette Bourgeois, best-known for creating the Franklin the Turtle series, walked up to the podium at this year’s annual Occupational Therapy (OT) Capstone Conference, there was one question on everybody’s mind: What is a world-renowned children’s author doing at an OT conference? And serving as the keynote speaker nonetheless?
As it turns out, this writer knows a thing or two about occupational therapy. In fact, Bourgeois is a former occupational therapist and was part of the first class of graduates from the University of Western Ontario’s Bachelor of Science degree program in OT.
As the keynote speaker at UBC’s OT Capstone Conference (a day-long conference that highlights the academic work and research of the Master of Occupational Therapy program’s graduating class), Bourgeois shared her personal journey with the audience, outlining the formative role her training in occupational therapy has played throughout her time as a journalist and writer.
“There’s a lot of connection between journalism and occupational therapy,” she says. “As a therapist, I learned to listen to people and wrote down their stories – journalism is the same.”
In the late 1970s, after several years of working in the field as a psychiatric occupational therapist, Bourgeois realized she had yet to find her true calling.
“I liked writing up the case histories more than anything else,” she says.
So, Bourgeois switched focus and went back to school – but this time to pursue a degree in journalism from Carleton University. After completing her degree, she landed a number of opportunities, first as a reporter for the Ottawa Citizen and CBC, then as a freelance journalist with Maclean’s, Chatelaine, Canadian Living, and Reader’s Digest. But it wasn’t until her daughter was born that Bourgeois decided to write books for children – a move that led to a prolific career as a children’s author.
Bourgeois continues to credit her training as an occupational therapist for her ability to see the world from a ‘holistic point of view’ – a critical skill for any writer.
“As an occupational therapist, you’re trained to look at things holistically. You see the links between disparate things,” says Bourgeois.
After the address, MOT students lined up to speak with Bourgeois and have her sign copies of one of her latest works: “You, Me and my O.T.” – an illustrated children’s book that explains the various jobs occupational therapists perform in homes, schools and the community. UBC’s MOT students receive a copy of “You, Me and my O.T.” from faculty after completing their first year of the program – a light read just in time for the summer holidays.
For full highlights from the day Click Here
Write-up by: Kerry Blackadar
Kerry Blackadar is the Communications Coordinator for the Faculty of Medicine at UBC