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For as long as she could remember, Pam Dahl knew she wanted to work in health care.
The only question was in what capacity within that space. In high school she became aware of occupational therapy and was immediately intrigued by the many opportunities to help people in a variety of ways.
“The more I learned about it, the more I realized that this was the career that I wanted to pursue,” she said. “I was really fortunate that I determined my path quite early in life of where I wanted my career to go.
In the 25 years since graduating from Dalhousie, Dahl has taken advantage of those opportunities. She has worked as an occupational therapist within the community, with children, in acute care and in 2008 started as a clinician in the Mental Health and Addictions Program.
“What I love about occupational therapy is that it’s very diverse, there’s so many options and opportunities as an occupational therapist,” she said. “It’s really a privilege to work with people to help them do the things that they want to do.”
She’s seen the profession grow exponentially in her time, with occupational therapists in a number of different areas, including in places such as primary care, physical rehabilitation services and mental health and addictions.
“When you understand the basis of Occupational Therapy, you realize that it fits in so many places. There’s just so many places where occupational therapy can bring value.”
Born and raised in the Annapolis Valley, Dahl has worked her entire career the area, from Valley Regional Hospital to Soldiers Memorial Hospital, to Beacon House in Kentville.
Being able to positively affect the lives of people in her own backyard is something that she doesn’t take lightly.
“I think it is really meaningful to work with people in the community that I grew up in,” she said. “I think there is something that comes from actually knowing the area and the people and being in the community.”
In 2017, Dahl became a manager and today oversees child and adolescent mental health and addictions services in the Annapolis Valley.
She credits her career as an occupational therapist with preparing her for a leadership role, allowing her to affect change in a different way.
“So much of what we do in occupational therapy is looking at the situation, breaking it down, problem-solving, pulling in resources, looking at what a person’s strengths and abilities are, and those are the same things that I do as a manager,” she said. “A lot of the skills that I have developed as an occupational therapist are very transferable to the skills that I use as a manager.”
While she very much loves what she currently does, Dahl says she will always be proud of the work she did in occupational therapy, helping people get back to doing the things they enjoy doing.
“I love being up to date on what’s happening in the occupational world. I do miss a little bit of that hands-on work, but I feel like I’m still an occupational therapist,” she said. “I’m a manager, but I’m still working as an occupational therapist, just in a different way.”