Every occupational therapist who currently practises in Malawi trained somewhere else. Sponsorships and regional partnerships have produced excellent clinicians — but each departing student represents a cost the country pays twice: once in fees, and again in the risk that a trained therapist settles abroad.
OTAM's five-year plan puts occupational therapy education at its centre. The ambition is simple to state and demanding to achieve: a recognised OT pipeline trained here, in Malawi, for Malawi.
The future of Malawian occupational therapy should be built in Malawian classrooms.
The gap in the pipeline
Malawi has a strong tradition of occupational therapy technicians — a mid-level cadre that carries a remarkable share of the country's rehabilitation work. But the full professional cadre remains thin, and the technicians who want to deepen their practice have historically had no local route to do so.
The result is a profession that numbers in the dozens serving a country of millions. District hospitals go without; schools go without; families travel long distances for services that exist in only a few centres.
What it takes to build a course
A WFOT-approved occupational therapy programme needs several things at once: a university partner willing to host it, clinical education placements that can sustain a cohort, a faculty — local and visiting — able to teach it, and WFOT minimum standards met from day one.
None of these can be conjured alone. OTAM's role is convenor and standard-bearer: keeping dialogue open with government, universities and international partners, and making sure that whatever curriculum emerges is built on the realities of Malawian practice — rural outreach, multilingual communities and family-centred care included.
- Partnerships: deepening ties with regional universities and the WFOT to align standards from the start.
- Clinical placements: growing the supervised placement capacity at existing centres so it can carry students.
- Faculty pipeline: supporting qualified OTs towards teaching and research roles, including postgraduate study.
CPD while we build
A full degree course is a years-long project. In the meantime, continuing professional development is how the profession keeps its edge: the workshops, mentorship circles and journal clubs OTAM runs exist precisely so that practice does not stand still while the long-term plan takes shape.
If you are an OT technician with ambitions, a therapist with teaching experience, or a partner interested in investing in the workforce, the association wants to hear from you.
