As a qualified healthcare professional, it is always interesting to explore the diverse possible career options available to you. In this latest blog post, we examine what a Workplace Rehab Consultant does and the personal rewards of working as one.
Working in workplace rehabilitation (sometimes also called occupational rehabilitation) allows you to apply your allied health qualification in a case management role.
You don’t treat your clients. Rather you support them by managing their case as the central point of contact between themselves, their employers, insurers and their treaters.
In any one day, consultants are out on the road, meeting clients and employers, undertaking assessments and empowering people to recover from injury or illness.
Rehabilitation Consultants need to hold a tertiary qualification in Allied Health. Typical roles and qualifications required are:
Workplace Rehabilitation Consultant
This role is performed by Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists and Exercise Physiologists.
These consultants assist injured / ill individuals return to work with their pre-injury employer. The role includes identification of suitable return to work duties via a worksite assessment, ensuring these are medically appropriate via liaison with treaters, and progressing the individuals’ return to work through regular reviews, communication and collaboration with key stakeholders. Consultants may also undertake ergonomic and activity of daily living assessments, and functional capacity evaluations.
Vocational Rehabilitation Consultant
This role is performed by Rehabilitation Counsellors, Registered Psychologists and Provisional Psychologists
This role aims to return an injured / ill individual to work with a new employer. This is achieved through the identification of suitable employment options, and the delivery of tailored programs that assist individuals to develop independent job seeking skills via coaching and skills training. It may also involve supporting individuals to identify, apply, prepare and attend job interviews, and to successfully secure employment that is medically suitable and sustainable.
You really can make a difference to someone’s life – quite often this is the very reason individuals set out to work in allied health in the first place. The role is never dull. Most days WRCs get to work with a variety of characters who uniquely inspire you to achieve the best possible outcomes for them and their employer.
Furthermore, as a WRC, each day brings a new challenge and environment, which can bring the diversity to your career that you might not experience in traditional practice-based roles.
Possibly the best place to learn about the rewards of working as a WRC is to follow the ARPA Excellence in Workplace Rehabilitation Awards, of which MediRecruit is a proud sponsor. The Awards recognise and celebrate the outstanding achievements of dedicated individuals and teams who contribute to Australian workplace health, return to work and the overall rehabilitation industry.
Watch the following video from the Australian Rehabilitation Providers Association (ARPA) to learn more about workplace rehabilitation and its rewards https://www.arpa.org.au/documents/item/20
Run by healthcare professionals, for healthcare professionals, MediRecruit’s primary focus is to encourage allied health workers to discover ‘diverse careers in health’ across Australia, New Zealand and the UK. As such, please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you’d like any advice regarding a potential career move into a WRC role or to discover the other possible career possibilities that may be open to you.
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