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Carnie Lewis MA ’18

What brought you to occupational therapy?
I spent seven years living in Shanghai, and during that time I volunteered at an orphanage for children who are blind. I would interact with children who had been neglected or mistreated, and I saw how much their lives improved with activities that were adapted to their needs. I already knew about occupational therapy because my mother, a teacher, worked alongside occupational therapists in school and told me about the profession, but it was this experience at the orphanage that really drew me personally to the field.

Tell us about your favorite memory from the program so far.
In May of 2015, as an undergraduate in the BS to MA program, I traveled to Guatemala to study culture, language, health and disease. I loved learning about the occupational therapy and healthcare services in Guatemala because it helped me understand how to apply OT to different cultures or communities. I learned so much from visiting clinics, discussing governmental and non-governmental resources, and talking to my host family about their occupations and personal experiences with health care. Because of this integrated and hands-on learning experience, I’d like to further study how to best implement OT services and policies into developing communities where therapeutic and preventative health care facilities are often neglected or absent.

If we opened your fridge, what would we see?
Blueberries, dark chocolate, and avocados.

What do you think is the greatest invention of mankind?
The Internet! It’s made more research available to so many fields and has allowed the everyday person to have access to science that was once considered arcane.

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USC Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy
1540 Alcazar Street, CHP 133, Los Angeles, CA 90089-9003

ACOTE accreditation | NBCOT certification

The USC entry-level master’s degree program (cost of attendance) is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education® (ACOTE®) of the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA). The USC entry-level doctorate in occupational therapy (OTD) degree program (cost of attendance) is accredited by ACOTE®. View our program’s ACOTE® standards public data. ACOTE® c/o the American Occupational Therapy Association, Inc.®, 7501 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite 510E, Bethesda, MD 20814, (301) 652-AOTA, www.acoteonline.org.

Professional program graduates are eligible to apply for the national certification examination administered by the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy, Inc.® (NBCOT®), nbcot.org. All states require licensure to practice; a felony conviction may affect a graduate’s ability to sit for the NBCOT® OTR certification examination or attain state licensure. Program results from the NBCOT® can be found online at www.nbcot.org/Educators-Folder/SchoolPerformance.