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Glossary

Occupational Therapist

A licensed healthcare professional who helps people of all ages do the daily activities they need and want to do.

An occupational therapist is a university-trained and licensed clinician who assesses and treats people whose ability to perform daily activities is disrupted by injury, illness, disability, or developmental difference. In Malaysia, OTs must hold at minimum a Bachelor of Occupational Therapy from an approved institution and register with the Allied Health Professions Council. Most practise in hospitals, community clinics, schools, or private paediatric centres. OTs differ from physiotherapists: where a PT focuses on movement and strength, an OT focuses on function, the ability to actually use that movement for a meaningful purpose (writing, cooking, driving, returning to work).